Satomi Kawai

Satomi Kawai was born and grew up in Japan, where a women’s virtue has been modesty, obedience, and harmonizing with her family and society. When she moved to the US, she found new opportunities to examine and explore the qualities of womanhood, including physical, mental, emotional, and psychological layers as well as muscular appearances. The change in the external environment and time added flexibility to her conceptualization of femininity. Her experiences sparked curiosity: did others have similar transformations after moving to the US? Satomi is exploring not only her personal perception but also other women’s perception as a woman. She creates wearable objects, drawings and printings, and performances. She has exhibited her artwork nationally (Cedar Rapids, Chicago, New York) and internationally (Netherland, Switzerland, Germany.)

University of Iowa, MFA Jewelry and MetalArts 2006

Instagram: satominart

Website: satomikawai.com

Artist Statement

By displaying my neckpieces created in “Symbiosis” (2007) and “Glowing Together” (2015), I am recalling the beginning of my personal femininity-themed body adornment. At that time, I was exploring several layers of femininity, focusing on how the relationship with my grandmother, who is my foster mother, changed when I moved to the US from Japan, and how my new environment in the US has influenced my personality.

I have been bounced back and forth between Japanese and American cultures. I do not see myself as a quiet Japanese woman. Gradually, I have been building up my own new culture, which blends these two cultures in my lifestyle.

With life experience as an immigrant, artist, and Zumba instructor, I have gained flexibility in my thinking, empathy, and curiosity for other diverse women. That is why I initiated interviewing diverse women about their life stories. The two body adornments, “Together” and “Connected”, created this year, reflect my current concerns about strengthening and improving my environment. I feel myself more deeply, and I know who I am as well as what I want to do. Now, I have a stronger determination to amplify many women’s voices through this project.

A performance, DS MOVES

DSMOVES’ new performance consists of two parts: “In Tears” and “Positivity and Possibility.”

The prologue, “In Tears,” was crafted in relation to the current political climate of the United States and other countries worldwide. As of July 2024, the State of Iowa now enforces a 6-week abortion ban, severely limiting the bodily autonomy of women. This is just one example of how women’s bodies and women’s stories are still too often dismissed and ignored.

The following section, “Positivity and Possibility,” is the response to the eight interviewees. Douglas and Satomi selected words from each interviewee and recorded them in Satomi’s voice. At the same time, Douglas extracted the interviewees’ voices from the interviews and integrated them into a sound recording, for which he and she created choreography. The section concludes with an invitation to the audience to dance, demonstrating the importance of community, inclusivity, and togetherness. With Satomi’s Zumba instructor background, she employed movements that would encourage audience participation.

NOTES: DSMOVES is the alias of performance duo Douglas Baker and Satomi Kawai, established in 2019.

Satomi Kawai/Women: Hood

Satomi Kawai

Artist Statement

Adornments

Performance Garments

A performance, DS MOVES