MIYUKI AKAI COOK
Blacken, 2013
20 x 27 inches
thread, laundry dryer sheet.
Statement
My biggest concern is our children’s future. I was born into a spoiled generation. In my life, I have had no hardships compared to my ancestors. I lived for years with my grandparents during my youth, which changed my appreciation of what I have. My grandmother especially had a hard life, yet she was humble and graceful. Today, I feel, we act like we have power over everything. As a society I believe that we use technology to solve problems, and money to buy those solutions. I wonder how our children learn value and appreciation in their lives because I do not feel like today’s children understand challenge and struggle the same way as past generations had. In my artwork I express our coexistence and dilemma caught between human society and nature’s gift of life, as I work to find and visualize cohesiveness between them.
MIYUKI AKAI COOK
Associate Professor of Fibers,
Marshall University, Huntington, WV
Miyuki was born and raised in Japan. She has always enjoyed creativities since she can remember, such as drawing, painting, and paper cutting, then her mother introduced sewing, knitting, crocheting. It was very natural for Miyuki to pursue art as her career. She attended Seian Woman’s college in Kyoto for a year to study textile, which was the first experience she dyed fabric. She earned BFA in Interior Design from Osaka University of Arts in Japan. In 2000 Miyuki took a journey to the U.S. to explore a different culture. She rediscovered an interest in textile while she was studying at University of North Texas. In 2006 she received MFA in Fiber/ Artisanry from University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth. Her visual inspiration and aesthetic are often from Japanese heritage. She calls herself a “maker” because her curious and adventurous personality let her to use various techniques and materials for different purposes. She has been passionate for education and currently teaching at Marshall University.