Using What Remains

(Above) Sayaka Kajita Ganz at work in her Fort Wayne, IN studio.

(Above) “Wind” 2008: 63” x 78” x 26”; reclaimed (mostly white and clear) plastic objects. Click for larger view.

(Above) “Wind” 2008: detail.

(Above) “Undulate” 2009: 17” x 27” x 17”; reclaimed (mostly white and clear) plastic objects.

(Above) “Undulate” 2009: view 2

(Above) “Fogo” 2008: 32” x 110” x 26”; reclaimed (mostly red and orange) plastic objects.

(Above) “Fogo” 2008: view 2

(Above) “Night” 2008: 72” x 50” x 17”; reclaimed (mostly black and clear) plastic objects.

(Above) “Night” 2008: detail

(Above) “Night” 2008: detail

(Above) “Night” 2008: detail


SAYAKA KAJITA GANZ uses what the industrial world creates as fodder for her art. Born in Japan but growing up in several countries, Ganz says she felt a sense of “disconnectedness” from the place in which she was born. Now living in humble, blue collar Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ganz says she uses plastic objects from peoples’ homes to breathe a new life into their original use. Reclaimed objects now transcending their origins—Ganz see’s this process as similar to her own life, and she identifies with this in her art. Ganz says this process of reclamation and regeneration is “liberating to her as an artist.”

See more about this important emerging artist here.