In this shrine-like installation, light flowers bloom from kimono-draped walls, creating a soft, sacred atmosphere that invites visitors into a dreamspace environment. The light emanates from hand-formed flower sculptures and surrounds a 6-foot figure, the hana kami, or "flower god", constructed using repurposed kimono textiles, all recovered from an abandoned akiya.

As an nod to the "shinigami", or death god -- the flower god represents an alternative framework to death, where the figure leaves a path of light flowers in its wake. Given that the materials used for the installation are all given another chance at "life", the symbolism of hana kami points to animism and reinvigoration among death, abandonment, or stillness.

This art installation was repurposed from abandoned objects from the akiya purchased from my work at Akiya Collective, and was installed both inside an abandoned house, as well as outdoors at a local festival. The work pays homage to a central tenet of indigenous Japanese Shinto belief--that all objects are endowed with sentience, a unique spiritual being (tsukumogami, 付喪神) which need care, connection, and respectful attention.

By breathing new life into these discarded materials, the installation becomes a living altar to forgotten spirits. Visitors are invited to sit, rest, and commune in a softly glowing space, blurring the line between object and offering, death and renewal.