When I first started to use wood sculptures in my films and performances, the sculptures came out of a shell of stillness. Coming from Japan, my idea of wood sculpture related to the solid form of Buddhist sculpture. Although carved from a single piece of wood, the forms I made appeared to be not just a single piece of material. The forms had movement the viewer could imagine; I like that idea and spent more than fifteen years exploring that direction.

Very often artists get tied to the techniques they devoted many years to, without seeing that the material is locking them into a little shell. When I noticed that I am a thinker who happened to be applying my ideas to wood, I allowed myself to look for other materials through which I could explore freer ideas. I never found that material in the art supply store, instead I looked for materials in theaters and hardware stores. "That is how I began performances called Live Wood Sculpture. In these performances, I made all the visual materials such as costumes (wings, masks, spines, etc.), and percussion instruments as well as the story, choreography and musical direction. I had chances to work with many talented performers in dance, mime, acting and music. Compared to carving wood, in which the artist removes extra wood to expose what she sees inside that mass, Live Wood Sculpture gave me unlimited reasons to look for possibilities beyond my studio. Each experience leads me to invent newer ideas to further explore in further projects.