mariko mori is part of a group of emblematic international contemporary artists with works of unique aesthetic and a history of nearly twenty years marked by constant style transformations.

her initial work in the 1990s associates her to the neo-conceptual universe through her experience in the fashion world. in her work, she personifies unreal and futuristic figures; characters that take on secluded identities. they are mechanical adolescents or cyber women portrayed while fulfilling their desire for performance. she uses the language of contemporary art and its spectacular nature by using photography, video, and high tech to reach a unique and specific image. mori produces small, beautiful narratives, located in dreamlike and surreal environments to neo pop, placing them in future and past scenarios constructed by art and technology, popular culture, and by buddhist iconography. she replicates her own image in several urban spaces in japan, portraying sensual conduct and gestures of cold elegance, while identifying them to her culture of belonging, an identity of cyborg beings present in both traditional and modern territories.

during a second period in her work, the artist seeks to make her own ideal visions into reality by projecting her imagery into manipulated environments by use of digital and photographic resources. empty dream exemplifies her will to set up metaphoric territories, where her own image takes on a divine presence removed from any time and place. here the viewer interprets a new awareness of his or herself, seeking a spiritual dimension that grants happiness and serenity. the video, another means of expression, materializes her dreams with surprising reality, transporting the static image of the photo into magical representations of movement. kumano, miko no inori, and nirvana surpass the limits known between space and time.

starting in the early 21st century, her own image gradually fades out of her work until it disappears completely, being replaced by architecture and its context, promoting new spaces, both mental and physical, as a metaphor for the body. the protagonists of the performance act are the spectators themselves; thus, forming a new “reality” in the work, while the architecture takes on several scenarios, such as galaxies, cyberspaces, or unknown universes. this period has some exciting pieces, such as the group of sculptures oneness, formed by six figures from an unknown world. when touched, the aliens will open their eyes, and we feel the beating of their hearts.

wave ufo, part of the brazilian exhibit, invites us into an interactive experience. the work integrates image, sound, and performance. through advanced navigation technology, it visually interprets participants’ brain waves as organic shapes, projecting them in the inner walls of the work, as if it were a planetarium. electrodes attached to our heads are in charge of connecting us amongst ourselves and to the machine, reading our brain waves in real time. we come to realize that the images are notes to our own thoughts and emotions.

nicola goretti, curator