No Body
Saki Sato, ChaNorth Solo Show Awardee

No Body by Saki Sato is a survey of the artist’s recent work, from ceramic sculpture to digital video, connected by the concept of alternate or absent human forms. This is Sato’s first solo presentation.

A body is the medium through which we experience reality– but what is our concept of self in a void? Sato examines how the lack of a body, or an entirely different body, can be an asset, freeing the viewer to engage from another perspective besides their own. Sato’s works explore the realms of the imagination as she embodies the consciousness of a wine cork or a fly, creates cocktails and trading cards that exist in a purely aesthetic dimension, and re-invents a popular children’s character by placing its face onto new, foreign forms.

Born from a first-generation Japanese father and a white American mother, Sato has navigated her entire existence between two cultures. Shifting between identities and expectations became natural to her, and while this presented its own difficulties, it also gave her a deep appreciation and respect for many different beings, beliefs and cultures. In the theater of the mind, no body is necessary.

Pictured above, Sato’s Cocktails series takes the form of alcoholic beverages, but in her take on mixology, the ingredients become inedible and nonsensical: the drink titled The Lonely Barber contains Blue curaçao, Barbicide, and is garnished with a pair of scissors. These surreal concoctions are not meant for human consumption– they must be drunk with our eyes.

As a continuation of this series, Sato will serve specially designed cocktails at the opening reception– don’t worry, these are ones you can actually drink! For the closing event, Sato will invite several musicians to perform ethereal and experimental pieces throughout the day, culminating in a screening of Sato’s video works.

About the Artist: 

Saki Sato (b. 1987) was raised in Long Island, New York. She attended the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, and has lived and worked in the area since. She has screened her videos internationally at the Shanghai Biennial (China), Ogura Gallery (Japan), Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (Germany), Trailer Gallery (Sweden), and several venues in the New York area, including I-20 Gallery and Anthology Film Archives. Her sculptures have appeared nationally at The Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY), Sweet Pass Sculpture Park (Dallas, TX), and Pilot+Projects (Philadelphia, PA). She has participated in residencies at The Wassaic Project, ChaNorth (Pine Plains, NY), and CCA Kitakyushu (Japan). A born multi-hyphenate of Japanese and American descent, she also works by day as a web developer and plays by night as a guitarist in the band Hard Nips.

For more information about Saki visit her website and follow her on Instagram.

About the Curator:

Peter Fulop is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and educator. Fulop’s work has been shown and is included in many public collections, in museums and major galleries across the world.

For more information about Peter visit his website.

About Chashama North (ChaNorth):

ChaNorth is the international artist residency program of Chashama, a non-profit organization that partners with property owners to transform unused real estate for artists. The ChaNorth residency offers the opportunity for emerging and mid-career artists to work and live in the Hudson Valley for four weeks. Annually the program hosts 48 artists during seven 4-week sessions running from April through November. ChaNorth upholds the storied tradition of the Hudson Valley by providing local and international artists with a supportive and secluded environment in which to create new work. The artist residency is embedded in the rural communities of the surrounding towns, serving as a cultural resource for the Hudson Valley. The program offers networking, exhibition and teaching opportunities and promotes awareness and understanding of visual arts in a rural community through engagement with the artists. ChaNorth also sustains a successful partnership with McEnroe Organic Farm to supply healthy, fresh produce for the artist residency through a work exchange program. ChaNorth offers a fellowship award for young artists under 30, and a solo show award. ChaNorth provides the opportunity for artists to submit to their yearly selected group show. Both the solo show and yearly group show are presented at Chashama exhibition spaces in New York City.

For more about ChaNorth, including application deadlines, visit them online at https://www.chanorth.com/ or on their page on chashama.org. And follow IG: @chanorthartresidency and @chashama