Location: #12 Located opposite Plaza Tower near the entrance to Samueli Theater
A sculpture by internationally renowned Japanese artist Aiko Miyawaki, consists of a dozen 10-foot columns set in an elliptical configuration with chromium-plated steel “threads” intertwining in graceful patterns at the top of each column. Aiko has chosen the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs to decorate her graceful columns.
As one of Japan’s leading artists, her sweeping modern wire sculptures are spread throughout the world.
Aiko Miyawaki - Utsurohi 91-Costa Mesa
Bio: (1929 -) Tokyo, Japan. Contemporary artist Aiko Miyawaki developed her artistic style in the context of postwar Japan. She was trained in the formal tradition of Japan, practicing the koto (traditional stringed .instrument of Japan) and the art of Ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement). She studied the History of Medieval Japanese Art during her days as a student at the University. As her artistic style developed, she kept in contact with the avant garde of Milan, Paris and New York.
The Piece: The dynamic sculpture, located between the Plaza Tower lobby and the parking structure, consists of a series of twelve, ten-foot columns set in an elliptical configuration with chromium-plated steel “threads” intertwining in graceful patterns at the top of each column. On the inside surface of each column, a small rough-surfaced rectangular area contains a glossy relief image of one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac and a Chinese character. Each animal is also identified in Latin. In this quiet and subtle piece there is a hint of the poetic states of the moods of nature.