Heidi Kumao Explained

Heidi Kumao (born 1964) is a video and machine artist, and professor at the University of Michigan.^[1] She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship^{[2] [3]} and a Creative Capital Emerging Fields Award.^[4]

Work

In her work, Kumao projects video, often stop-motion animation, onto various surfaces, including machines.^[5] Her 1994 work, Feed, projected animations from zoetrope machines onto surfaces such as "a player-piano scroll, a paper screen, blank photograph frames, and the interior of a cardboard box."^[6]

In 2005, Kumao created a series of machines suggesting women's legs for the piece Misbehaving: Media Machines Act Out. The legs were named "Protest," "Resist," and "Translator." With videos embedded into the legs' torsos, the machines acted out "tableaus of protest" such as stomping on the floor, writhing on the ground or dance.^[7]

Kumao broke her back in 2011. Her work has since incorporated aspects of the body. Other works explore human constraint, such as human trafficking and Japanese-American internment camps.^[8]

Awards

• 2002: Creative Capital Emerging Fields Award ^[4]
• 2009: Guggenheim Fellowship^[9]
• 2008: Governor's Award for Michigan Innovative Artist
• 2007: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation
• 2006: Malvina Hoffmann Award for Finest Sculpture from the National Academy

External links

• Interview with Heidi Kumao

Notes and References

1. Web site: Heidi Kumao Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan. stamps.umich.edu. 2016-03-13.
2. News: McGovern. Judy. U-M's Laura Kasischke and Heidi Kumao win Guggenheim Fellowships. 4 March 2016. Michigan Live.
3. News: Kumao, Heidi. The Art Institute of Chicago . Art Institute Chicago. 6 March 2016 .
4. Web site: Projects. Creative Capital.
5. Book: Hirsch. Robert. Exploring Color Photography: From Film to Pixels. 2014. CRC Press. 9781317911142. 85.
6. Licata. Elizabeth. HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER. Artforum International. December 1994. 33. 4.
7. Book: Wosk. Julie. My Fair Ladies: Female Robots, Androids, and Other Artificial Eves. 28 July 2015. Rutgers University Press. 9780813575209.
8. Surviving Confinement: Video Sculpture by Heidi Kumao . 4 March 2016 . Alisia . Afterimage . Chase . 42 . 3 . 36. 10.1525/aft.2014.42.3.36 .
9. Web site: Heidi Kumao. Creative Capital. 4 March 2016.