Translucent

Attempting to musically catalog the breadth of artist Jun Kaneko’s work might have been Sisyphean in scope. As composer Andy Akiho began writing, however, certain pieces and processes sifted out, ultimately making Sculptures a showcase of ideas that are uniquely Kaneko’s own. First, as art historian Glen R. Brown writes, “his interest to repeat the same idea in a different material to see how it looked.” Second, specific material choices that create inherent relationships between the piece and the viewer. Third, space itself, in all its meanings, or ma: where questions of inches – whether in relation to another sculpture, the viewer, the density of the work, a pattern, or a form – create ripples of consequence.

Sculptures is a collection of nine compositions, alternating between full-orchestra, percussion, digital, and in one case, the symphony brass section. Some of the compositions reference particular art works by Kaneko; others, whole swaths of the artist’s output. In addition to constant support from Ree and Jun Kaneko and access to Kaneko’s work in Omaha and Portland, Oregon, Glen R. Brown’s Jun Kaneko: The Space Between was integral to the composer’s process and these notes.

This piece, Translucent, refers to Kaneko’s transformation of previous ceramics and clay pieces to new iterations in glass. Akiho was inspired by Kaneko’s 1996 Between Light & Shadow and 1981’s Parallel Sound, both re-born in 2001 at the Bullseye Glass studio in Portland. Brown writes, “glass conjures a synthesis of being and nothingness; material and consciousness a tangibility and a pure energy that seems to linger in place with the pale gleam of water or the hard brilliance of a crystalline flame without ever surrendering itself to the confirmation of touch.”

- Dani Meier