TOMIYAMA TAEKO
Description
In Toxic Seas
Oil on canvas
66 x 51 2/3" (FRAMED)
2008
In Toxic Seas is part of the series, Hiruko and the Puppeteers (2008), and is one of the largest and most ambitious of the artist's career sustaining her longstanding focus on transnational history, warfare, and Japan's brutal colonization of its Asian neighbors. Two towering structures rise out of the depths, echoing the iconic silhouette of New Yorks World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. Set against a fiery haze, these twin towers also evoke the explosive force of an oil-field fire. Billowing smoke fills the atmosphere that signals both ecological destruction and the ominous pretext for yet another war. Below, amidst a desolate landscape of discarded computer keyboardsa modern-day sunken graveyardskeletal birds peck curiously, their eerie yet carefree movements adding a touch of whimsy to Tomiyamas solemn message about global self-delusion, militaristic entanglements, and environmental ruin.
Following traditional Japanese naming conventions, last names is provided first.
Following traditional Japanese naming conventions, last names is provided first.
Date
2008
Creator
TAEKO TOMIYAMA
b. Japan, 1921-2021
Source
Gift of Sakata Natsume in memory of her mother Tomiyama Taeko
Identifier
2025.001.005
Citation
TAEKO TOMIYAMA and b. Japan, 1921-2021, “TOMIYAMA TAEKO,” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka, accessed March 14, 2025, http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/17111.