Kelly Akashi Sculpts New Possibilities from the Remnants of Fire
# **Kelly Akashi’s “Witness” at Lisson Gallery: A Testament to Resilience and Renewal**
## **Introduction**
Los Angeles-based artist Kelly Akashi presents a profoundly personal and evocative exhibition at [Lisson Gallery](https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/kelly-akashi). Titled *Witness*, the exhibition is a response to recent personal and environmental devastation—the destruction of Akashi’s Altadena home and studio in the Eaton and Palisades Fires. Drawing from themes of time, memory, and intergenerational history, Akashi transforms loss into a meditation on regeneration, survival, and the promise of new growth.
## **The Art of Survival: Akashi’s Process and Materials**
Akashi’s work has long been characterized by a fascination with geological time, as well as her family’s personal and historical narratives, particularly their experiences of displacement. In *Witness*, these themes are given new urgency after the fire that destroyed much of her home and creative space. The artist salvaged materials from the wreckage, weaving them into sculptures that honor personal history, resilience, and rebirth.
### **Bronze, Glass, and the Patina of Loss**
A bronze cast of the lower half of Akashi’s face, *Witness* (2024–25), greets viewers as a striking focal point. The metal’s surface, marked by an irregular patina, is both scarred by the fire and transformed by it. Emanating from the face is a delicate red glass structure, resembling blood vessels or young plant tendrils—symbols of life emerging from destruction.
### **Seeds and Symbols of Rebirth**
Throughout the exhibition, Akashi frequently uses seeds and botanical motifs. Large bronze seed pods with intricate wiring extending from them appear as conduits of energy. In *Devil’s Claw with Seeds* (2024–25), a spiked pod—alien in appearance—protects and nurtures its hidden seeds. This representation of potential growth reinforces the exhibition’s meditation on how destruction is often the starting point for renewal.
## **Honoring Family and Ancestry**
Akashi’s work also serves as an exploration of lineage, particularly the experiences of her maternal and paternal grandparents. The incorporation of lace doilies, passed down from her maternal grandmother, creates connections between personal craftwork and art history. The delicate, intricate patterns of these textiles are laser-cut into Corten steel, a material historically associated with large-scale sculptures by male artists like Richard Serra. Here, Akashi reclaims the medium, embedding the contributions of women into a historically exclusionary art form.
### **Echoes of Injustice: The Weight of History**
The exhibition opened on February 19, coinciding with the 83rd anniversary of **Executive Order 9066**, which led to the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Akashi’s paternal grandparents were among those affected, and she has previously incorporated their jewelry into earlier works to highlight the generational impact of this trauma. In *Witness*, she honors her maternal lineage with delicate homages that suggest the ways historical memory shapes the present.
## **”Monument” as a Manifesto**
The standout piece of the exhibition, *Monument (Shelter)* (2025), encapsulates the exhibition’s core themes. The sculpture features two cast bronze hands—replicas of Akashi’s own—cupping a turquoise-hued seed pod. Resting on one of her grandmother’s lace doilies, the piece raises questions: Are the hands offering the seed, cradling it, or shielding it? The ambiguity symbolizes the complex roles of inheritance, nurturing, and protection in shaping the future.
## **The Politics of Imagination**
Akashi’s work engages with contemporary discourse on power and resistance. Writers like [Ijeoma Oluo](https://www.ijeomaoluo.com) and [adrienne maree brown](https://adriennemareebrown.net) have discussed how limiting imagination is a tool of white supremacy—by keeping marginalized communities trapped within rigid institutions, creativity itself becomes a site of resistance. *Witness* operates within this framework, transforming art into an act of survival, one where imagination enables the creation of new possibilities in the wake of destruction.
## **Final Reflections**
Akashi’s *Witness* is more than a personal reckoning; it is an invitation for viewers to reconsider their own relationships with history, loss, and renewal. Through the interplay of delicate glass, rugged bronze, and salvaged remnants, she reconstructs a powerful narrative of survival. In a political and environmental climate increasingly marked by devastation, her work serves as both a memorial and a catalyst for imagining possible futures.
**Kelly Akashi’s *Witness* continues at [Lisson Gallery](https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/kelly-akashi) through March 29.**