By way of moldmaking and casting, Kodama's sculptures and drawings investigate latent impulses for control present in manufactured objects and Japanese American settlement histories. Their work lifts and repositions massage tools, hairpins, photo holders, flower frogs, and snippings from Japanese language textbooks- all human-made objects which influence or rationalize understandings of physical bodies, (alleged) cultural self perception, nostalgia, and the world at large. Kodama cynically and cheekily mediates influence and appetite present in the sentimentality economy and the hollows of cultural self actualization.
CONTACT for full statement.
KIANI KODAMA (b. 1996, Seattle, WA) is a sculptor based in Brooklyn, NY and Bakersville, NC. They received their BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art (New York, NY; 2020) and studied at Kyoto Seika University (Kyoto, Japan; 2018). Kodama is currently a Core Fellow at Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC; 2026-2027) and is a member of the White Columns Artist Registry (New York, NY). They were a recipient of the Liu Shiming Foundation Art Grant (New York, NY; 2023), and has held residence at Studio Kura (Fukuoka, Japan; 2025), Pillowfort Arts Center (Andes, NY; 2025), and Vashon Artist’s Residency (Vashon, WA; 2024), among others. Kodama has exhibited widely throughout New York and Japan, most notably at RAINRAIN Gallery (New York, NY; 2024), Susquehanna Art Museum (Harrisburg, PA; 2024), NARS Foundation (Brooklyn, NY; 2023), and Vox Populi Gallery (Philadelphia, PA; 2023). Curatorial projects include Mouthing a Star Shaped Grave at Underland Gallery (Brooklyn, NY; 2023) and Deliverance at Trestle Art Space (Brooklyn, NY; 2023). Their work has recently been published in Active Chapter (Issue: Perverts; 2025) and Bat City Review (Issue 20; 2024).