Keiko Miyamori

How Much Do I Owe You

Once architecturally regarded as “a pillar of security” the bank as an institution has profoundly changed its meaning, while the actual functions of banking have changed due to deregulation and technology.  Placed in this former bank building, these hauntingly beautiful typewriter installations function like relics from another era, a memento to this passage of signification and function.

Prior to casting in the resin, Miyamori  “wraps” each typewriter in washi covered in charcoal rubbings of tree bark patterns. The wrapping is a meticulous process that gives the typewriter a new surface or skin that resembles granite or marble.

The typewriter sculptures are also a means of biographical storytelling. For each one, Miyamori distills an important experience in her life to a short, simple phrase, which she types on the washi paper just before casting. The phrase becomes part of the work’s title. She also wraps all the keys in washi to hide the letters, except for a few that reveal an anagram related to her experience.