Plate Tectonics: Japanese American Dinnerware, 1992
15" H x 8' W x 4’ D Ceramic, Wood
Private Collection
Ceramics Monthly writer, Victoria Harvey, identified this 1992 piece as a seminal sculpture warning of the fragility of Hawaii’s coral reef.
Six interlocking geometric, three-dimensional bento boxes break apart like tectonic plates, warning seismic activity in the turquoise Hawaiian waters.
The gold-raised areas serve overfished seafood with recessed circular locations for dipping sauce and vegetables. The central colorful coral reef serves sushi with flat black swirls representing damage to the reef.
The wall sculpture is attached to a former dining room tabletop to practice upcycling.
Thirty years later, coral reefs are dying due to global warming. I am terrified that I was correct in predicting our dying coral reefs would be one of the canaries in the coalmine, resulting in our slipping into a global environmental disaster.
How can we continue to defy nature and expect to win?