As a Japanese woman living in the United States, I often struggle with my attempts at communication, since English is not my first language. As a result, I am very interested in the subject of communication and my desire for intimacy.

Repeated misunderstandings made me sad. The appearance of my ignorance made me frustrated. The eyes of all, on me, intimidated me. I felt like the more I stayed here, the more I shrunk. I lost myself. Loneliness made me eager for deep communication with someone else.

I’ve undertaken performance pieces as a way to express the intense support that being loved by someone has given me. Through my performance work, I became a sculpture and connect directly with my viewing audience. Now I can finally talk with others, beyond, above, and below language’s normal spectrum.

As a material with which to connect to my audience, I’ve often utilized glass. Glass is a (very) subtle material.  I can see people behind a sheet of clear glass, people can see me as well, but we cannot touch each other directly. It is as if there is an invisible filter between people, or a thin sheer membrane of a skin that protects us all from our surroundings… and from each other.

Through performance with glass, I’m continuously expressing the unsuccessful attempts we make at developing true bonds that bridge the gaps between people.

About Fumi Amano

Fumi Amano was born in 1985 in Aichi, Japan. She studied Art Education at the University of Education in Aichi. While studying Art Education, she learned about glassmaking as a traditional Japanese craft and worked diligently to master all techniques presented to her.

In order to learn more about glass and expand her horizons, she moved to Seattle, a place that many well known glass artists such as Dale Chihuly and Dante Marioni call their home. She worked in a glassblowing studio in Seattle for about a year before finally moving, in 2015, to Richmond, Virginia to formally study glass art at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Fumi is working hard to try and do new and creative things with glass while working towards achieving her ultimate goal; to demonstrate new possibilities in glass to people around the world, with hopes of impacting their lives positively.