Yuka Oyama is no stranger to the challenges faced by those who regularly move homes. As a German-Japanese artist, having lived in Japan, Malaysia, the US and Germany, she has experienced firsthand, the struggle of finding a sense of home in her travels.
Her exhibition entitled – Helpers; Changing homes, is an exploration of the story of migration, where home is not defined as somewhere that is bound to one city or country. She speaks of home as being a result of the things which a person brings with them, that evoke within them the feeling of being ‘home’. Through this exhibition, Oyama is asking her audience to reflect upon the things that they carry with them in their lives which help them to feel at home.
The exhibition features a number of wearable sculptures, created using cardboard moving boxes supplied by Allied Pickford’s, tape and a glue gun. Oyama describes the sculptures as being similar to houses made by young children using cardboard boxes.
The sculptures were created in response to a series of 2-4 hour interviews conducted by Oyama with a number of different people, and are a visual account of the stories which were shared with her. The wearable artwork will be displayed in the form of a marching procession across the Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand on Thursday the 18th of January and 5.30 PM.
Allied Pickford’s are pleased to have had an active role in supplying the materials for the creation of the sculptures as well ensuring the secure relocation of the sculptures to the venue for the exhibition.