Name: Mika Taga

Pronouns: they/she

Medium: wood, plaster, metal, ink

What I worked on at Sable: While at Sable, I worked with charcoal, Sumi ink, sand, and wood. I didn’t have a product in mind when starting the week, and as the week progressed, I found myself focused on opening myself to the holistic experience of living in the woods in a community of creatives for a week. The richest parts of the experience involved time with the trees, time in the river, and time with a special group of makers. I experienced a sense of sinking into myself, and an opening to those around me that I hadn’t experienced before. New friendships formed, bridges and connections revealed themselves in regard to our respective art practices, and though I made some sketches and engaged with wood, the most revelatory part of the experience cannot be shown through a finished object, since it is a sense of wholeness within myself that I credit to the natural world and to the wonderful people I met. As a result of this time, I am thinking more deeply about my creative practice, and I now see that the people and community I surround myself with have a much larger impact on my creative process than I knew before.

Fun Fact: Trees and wood take my breath away. The forms of trunks and branches, the way light floats through leaves, the way it exists when alive, the latent life force it holds when it’s no longer living, the smell when carved, the way it does so much for us silently…it’s my greatest interest and love.

Some Images:

(I was thinking about light, shadow, tracing movement that cannot be perfectly captured, ideas of completion. Transformation of material, mark-making, connection, letting go of the need for resolution, presence and absence)

June Session 2 Artist

First two photos by Elise Wojtowicz