Kentucky Mountain Treasures

The series “Kentucky Mountain Treasures” commissioned by the Kentucky Arts Council, consists of ten works which were created according to the Kentucky Governor's Art Awards categories. The works interlace the fauna and flora of Kentucky mountains and find narrative using Toko as a the guide to the stories. Toko is a witness to the goodness of the “treasures”, the power and resiliency of the long time natives of the mountain people, animals and nature. A visit on the mountain trails, including the Appalachian Trail, can give you a good sense of this culture, but immersed in it as a place to call home, the music of the old time tunes, the cane chairs made from the woods, the corn bread made from the iron skillets, all make sense. The people live, thrive and will stay there, watching the hikers, the passersby, the scholars that come and go. I live there and record as a witness to this incredible connection of the mountains and humanity, an absolute honor. The series taps into the traditional Japanese media choice of using chiyo rice paper as a decorative element that flow beautifully with the similarity of the mountains of eastern Kentucky to the mountains of Japan.