Due to the cancellation of the lecture by Prof. Junko Kato originally scheduled to be on this date, the center is pleased to present this lecture by Ms. Aya Rodriguez-Izumi.

For this presentation, Ms. Rodriguez-Izumi will talk about several projects within my practice that are informed by the history of Okinawa since World War II and their contemporary repercussions as they manifest on that island and across the broader geopolitical landscape. From her vantage point as both an Okinawan and American artist, Ms. Rodriguez-Izumi will highlight methodologies that are used within her practice to foster cross-cultural understanding and ways that she creates work in collaboration with local and indigenous communities.

Aya Rodriguez-Izumi is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work blends sculpture, installation, performance, community engagement, and documentation to explore aspects of ritual retention, cross-cultural identity, and histories that risk erasure. She was born in Okinawa, Japan, and grew up between that island and East Harlem, NY, where she currently lives and holds a studio. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally through presentations at venues such as El Museo del Barrio, MoCADA, the NUS Museum in Singapore, the International House of Japan in Tokyo, the Taipei Fine Art Museum, the Aldrich Museum, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan among others. She was a recipient of the A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship in New York, a Jerome Foundation Fellowship at Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota, the JUSFC Creative Artist Fellowship, the Annual Artist fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park, and represented Okinawa and the United States in the 2023 Romantic Route 3 Triennial in Taiwan. She earned a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons the New School for Design and an MFA in Fine Arts from The School of Visuals Arts. Aya centers community building in her practice and work. She brings this sensibility to her teaching in SVA's MFA Fine Art Department and at the Studio Museum in Harlem, as well as her work as a board member at the historic feminist artist run A.I.R. Gallery.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at wugou@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.