Inter-Traveller II

Konoike Tomoko, artist

born 1960

Inter-Traveller II, 2009–2016

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: cotton; leather; fiber-reinforced plastic

Credit line: Courtesy of the artist and Volcanoise, Tokyo

Accession number: IA2016.007.b

Not on display

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In much of her work, Konoike Tomoko uses open-ended narratives to allow viewers to craft their own stories about her artwork. Similarly, the outdoor sculpture Inter-Traveller, which depicts the lower half of a girl’s torso, is intended to operate as an unfixed, fluid device upon which viewers can impart their own meanings. For Konoike, the word “inter-traveller” denotes “a person who crosses boundaries and moves back and forth between different worlds.” She conveys the idea further in the following poem:
Think of the human heart as the earth The viewer becomes an Inter-Traveller While appreciating a
work, they journey to the center of the earth via imagination
The installation of Inter-Traveller in multiple locations further under- scores the liminal, in-between character of the work. Look for Inter-Traveller perched in a tree located in Marvin Grove, seated in the Museum’s lobby, and at the KU Natural History Museum.