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| New photograph in the works. Can you tell what it's showing? |
Well, I just rewrote my bio/about blurb and thought I would post it here as well since it is also a big thank you note of sorts.
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Hello. Thank you so much for visiting Kiss of the World. My name is Haruko Tanaka and I am an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, film/video, installation, and collaborative relational workshops and events. When making art I am usually thinking a lot about the rich diversity of cultural knowledge that we all possess and the creative ways with which to unearth, present, and honor them through image, sound, space, and interaction. I love asking and hearing about peoples' lives and eternally thank the powers that be for the curiosity of a cat and a really good memory.
I was born in '74 in a hospital in Queens New York to my Japanese parents Kiyoko and Kazuteru and brother Yuske, who were living in Dobbs Ferry at the time. From '76-'78 we were back in Kamakura, Japan, and then we moved to England in '78. During the '84 Olympics the family moved back to Japan, except for my brother who returned to England at the end of the summer to go to boarding school. With a British accent and no ability to speak Japanese I was enrolled in St. Maur International School in Yokohama and there, came of age and fluent in Japanese with the help of a host of wonderful friends, Japanese manga, volleyball, karaoke, and video-making. In '92 with an American accent, I moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California and after some searching, settled in the School of Fine Art. In 2001 I started my graduate studies in the Photography and Media department at the California Institute of the Arts where I ended up making short films with the help of some super generous film school students and friends. The Asian American International Film Festival at the Asia Society in New York gave me my first break during graduate school where my 2 minute experimental short film "I Love You" was screened as the appetizer to the break out Korean gangster film of the year. The super supportive reaction from the Asian-Am MTV theater audience was a pivotal experience for me. I have never assumed any particular audience for my work ever since.
Since completing my MFA studies in 2003 I've gotten a lot of tremendous support from mentors, friends, and colleagues, who have included my work in exhibitions, film festivals, performances, events, and workshops. Despite always threatening to renounce my artistic practice when feeling a little lost, I am truly grateful to everyone bestowing opportunity after opportunity on me. Thank you. I LOVE to collaborate and am always stoked when the experience arises. Most recently I've had the fortune to work as one half of the artist intuitive duo Krystal Krunch with my awesome friend Asher Hartman. We have such a good time! and it always is such an energizing and humbling experience to be able to catch a glimpse of the interior magnificence of strangers (of course with their permission : )
These days I am looking for (and applying to) opportunities to break on into the public art sphere which in my mind and heart seems to be the 'exhibition space' that makes the most sense right about now. Fingers crossed.
