Into the Heavens

DESCRIPTION Watercolor and crayon on paper | 2023 For this collection of works, Shibuya explored ideas of nationality, race, ageism, sexism, and how people often view them as separate entities, when in reality, most people experience - directly and indirectly - as fluid and simultaneous existences. The artist wanted to bring these concepts to the forefront as a collection to show that as different as people may be, the human commonality often leads to shared experience. In her own words: Vibrant, young, old, decrepit, these are all nuances, labels that we are told, but do not have a place to hold in its entirety because we are multifaceted human beings. There is no one way to face a world where we are supposed to fit containers, as if lined up at a grocery store, waiting to be feasted upon. No, we are uniquely, individualistically, superbly, different — and beautiful. Effervescent, illuminating, wondrous, creatures, roaming the planet, trying to find our way, our voice, our place, yet