Paradise Interrupted: Disintegration
Paper gardens, paint, acrylic panels
Holiday window display for Mikimoto
New York, NY
November 19, 2014 - mid-January, 2015

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Mikimoto, together with The Asian Cultural Council, announce a special window installation called Paradise Interrupted: Disintegration to celebrate Holiday 2014.

For this project, Jennifer Wen Ma takes inspiration from her installation opera Paradise Interrupted, a major new work that she directs and designs with music by composer Huang Ruo. The opera has been generously supported by the ACC and will world premier with Spoleto Festival USA in 2015, and come to Lincoln Center Festival in 2016. The Mikimoto triptych presents the dramatic moment in the opera where an abstract and utopian garden disintegrates and distills into what the artist describes as the essence of life. Here, a black, pristine garden made of paper is shown in various stages of coming undone, highlighting its fragility and beauty. The back panels of semi-transparent weathered mirrors are a meditation on the allure and power of illusions. A small window vignette features a digital projection of fireflies that are like pearls in flight or swimming underwater, creating a playful and dazzling array of swirling lights that draws the viewer in with a sense of magic and delight. 

The installation is a part of a larger partnership Mikimoto maintains with the ACC, which supports transformative cultural exchanges by awarding grants to artists and scholars.

“Mikimoto is dedicated to supporting the arts and specifically the needs of burgeoning artists,” said Meyer Hoffman, COO of Mikimoto. “Our legacy, built on the company’s founder Kokichi Mikimoto, has always been the creation of fine works of artistry and craftsmanship. We’re excited at the opportunity to provide a platform for this community and look forward to continuing this special relationship with the ACC.”

10% of the sales made at the boutique from November 19th – 30th went to the ACC.