Artist
Maiko Sugano
Born in Tokyo in 1974, Maiko Sugano graduated from the School of Fine Arts at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music in 1997, and in the same year
she received the Excellence Prize in the Parco URBANART #6 competition. After working for a design firm, she embarked on a round-the- globe trip, and ended up
living in San Francisco in 2000. She was a recipient of the Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship and also the Wornick Scholarship from California College of Arts. In
2004 she completed her MFA at California College of the Arts, and since 2006 she has been working as an assistant researcher at the department of Intermedia Art at
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. In 2009, she received a grant as part of the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artist"
from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, to research art and art environments at the Marta Herford Museum in Germany. In 2014, she had her PhD in Fine Art
at Tokyo University of the Arts. Now, she is currently researching art and communication in Japanese domestic environments while continuing her artwork.
Artwork
Return (pronounced as “turtle” in Chinese)
Maiko Sugano made this “cave-room” with giant lauan wood and stones gathered from the seashore. She invites viewers to walk, under the belly of the ‘turtle’, into
the underground square room. When the viewers look out between the four limbs of the turtle, they find that their perspectives are on the ground level and they face
the same direction as the turtle does—with a view of the Pacific Ocean and the scattered landscape in horizon. Visitors can also sit on the top of the “cave-room” and
rest themselves on the edge of the turtle’s back to look at the sea or simply stare. This work enables people to see the East Coast from a different perspective, that is,
from the point of view of our mother nature, and observe the strength, vastness and beauty of the origin of life by going down into the earth.
Location
Douli Visitor Center (the main office of East Coast National Scenic Area Tourism Bureau, located on Highway 11, at the point of 125.5 Kilometer marker)
In Amis, Douli means “where the bears roam”. The area sits against mountains and opens up to the sea. From this spot, visitors can see Chenggong and Sanxiantai
Recreation Area in the north and Green Island in the south. This area surely represents the beauty and grandeur of the east coastline.
