Sachiko Akiyama lives surrounded by water at the juncture of three rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. In her work, the ocean functions like a dream stage, a space rich with metaphor and symbolism. Mimicking this oceanic surround, the exhibition’s darkened walls help us leave the everyday and enter a world where invented allegories play out, both deeply personal and universally resonant. 

Akiyama juxtaposes simplified landscape elements with human and animal forms in carved wood and cast resin supplemented by welded metal and golden threads. A female form reappears in each of five sculptures, her body shifting position to interact with clouds, waves, trees, and mountains. This movement, along with scale shifts and the presence of a boat-like form, suggests that the figure is passing through stages of a journey. A central floor sculpture features the woman lying flat on her back on the bottom of a boat, eyes closed in repose—or perhaps, in Akiyama’s nod to Egyptian funerary sculptures, in passage to another world. In Our Constellations, the boat-form becomes an altar where two women stand ceremoniously with hands clasped atop billowing clouds. 

Akiyama keeps her hand visible, leaving chisel marks, seams, and subtle variations exposed. These decisions remind us that the work is labor intensive and align Akiyama with the traditions of African wood carving, Cycladic figuration, and Japanese woodcuts that are part of her creative lineage. Akiyama leaves armatures visible as well: in Night Falls, the “water” starts at the top as molded clay, then transitions into lines “drawn” by the welded metal that gives the sculpture form. Akiyama uses color confidently yet sparingly, employing a limited palette of blue, gold, black, and white. This juxtaposition of inherent material and applied color brings to mind the work of the pop sculptor Marisol, another conceptual ancestor. While the precise meaning of each work remains mysterious, the repetition of the figure and an accumulation of symbols demonstrate that each vignette is a crafted meditation on human experience. 

This exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the Roxanne Quimby Foundation. 

About the Artist

Sachiko Akiyama received her BA from Amherst College, her MFA from Boston University, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She has had solo exhibitions at the Brattleboro Museum (Brattleboro, VT) and Tracey Morgan Gallery (Asheville, NC) and has been featured in group exhibitions at Mrs. Gallery (Queens, NY), Dunes (Portland, ME), Night Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (Rockland, ME). Among numerous honors, Akiyama has been awarded a Joan Mitchell Fellowship, an Artist Resource Trust Grant, and residencies at Millay Arts and the Ucross Foundation. Akiyama’s work is represented by Tracey Morgan Gallery. She lives and works in Portsmouth, NH. 

About the Curator

Tessa Greene O’Brien is an artist and curator based in South Portland, Maine. She received a BS from Skidmore College and an MFA from the Maine College of Art & Design. O’Brien has exhibited her own work in exhibitions at venues including Candice Madey Gallery (New York, NY); La Loma Projects (Los Angeles, CA); the Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME); Sears Peyton Gallery (New York, NY); and CMCA, among numerous others. She has organized exhibitions at venues including CMCA and Able Baker Contemporary (Portland, ME), where she was previously a director.