Foss Waterways Seaport presents:
“If I Lived in the Ocean”………

the underwater world and immersive installation/exhibition. This is its’ second iteration since first showing at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in 2021.

It beckons viewers to experience thought provoking work and objects -  up close, or 20 feet up, while some pieces must be found by looking through gaps in plastic or jute curtaining. 
The troublesome plastic film in abundance in the exhibition comes from the coffee roasting industry. It has been mutated into massive kelp beds, moving and reflecting in the changing light - contradicting its representation of a “problem”. 
The Gyotaku wall of 20 prints made using the traditional Japanese art of painting a real fish (or octopus etc.) and transferring the likeness to a Japanese paper - stands as imagery of life in the ocean since all these works carry “life” from touching the real fish. 
A commissioned classical piano composition, fans activating thousands of strands of plastic kelp, being surrounded - swimming and entangled in our own doing.  
Paintings, hangings and pieces of clothing contribute to the commentary - human habituation, life giving oceans, myriad of environmental concerns, over-fishing, fishing practises, design flaws, shipping regulations, fast fashion, industrial pollution...........

It is the artist’s wish that interacting with this exhibition sparks inspiration. An inspired individual is alive, powerful and capable. Nishikawara recalls pivotal moments in her past when she was emotionally moved by cultural works changing the course of her life and she hopes to bring that kind of energy to any work she creates and shares in the world.