海野恵 Tiffany Megumi Gerdes

海野恵 Tiffany Megumi Gerdes is a visual artist and designer.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Megumi has a background in printmaking, photography, floral design, textile design, and landscape architecture. Megumi’s practice explores stories of inter-connection and the fleeting nature of contemporary landscapes. Her work mixes cartographic, architectural, and spiritual conventions in mark-making. Her lens is shaped by a dual cultural upbringing in Japan and the American Midwest. In 2019, following her grandfather’s passing, Megumi observed for the first time Japanese-Buddhist funerary rituals. Her work began to incorporate incense as a drawing tool while continuing to map and mimic spatial inter-connection and archetypal interpretations of landscapes. In spirit and in technique, the burning process has become a crucial component of her practice and an expression of mono no aware, 物の哀れ the ‘pathos of things’ or the transient nature of life.

Artist Statement

The burn works I have included for the Small Works Project are from an ongoing series, ‘phainesthasia ‘objects that shine forth.’

Phainesthai is the Greek verb ‘to appear’ which is linked to the English word, phantasia or ‘imagination.’ Both are derivatives of the Greek verb, phao which means ‘to give light, shine, beam, especially of the heavenly bodies.’ These variations first started appearing in texts like Aristotle’s ‘De Anima’, where Aristotle attempts to decipher the ‘sparks’ responsible for the human soul and its truth-seeking desires.

When creating burn works, I have found illumination to be a welcomed byproduct of my process. This series is an account of ephemeral discoveries within nature that create shadow and reveal light, from ocean-waves at sunset to rain on windowpanes. I believe shiny objects catch our eyes for a reason as they direct us to look closer at hidden truths embedded in the Universe.

Instagram: @megumigerdes
Personal website