Exspiro is a limited edition letterpress print by Mika Tajima. With a title translating to “breathe out” in Latin, the work features gold foil embossed jet nozzles and die-cut holes arranged in acupressure points referring to the meridian system in the body—the vital energy thought to flow through channels connecting the skin to internal organs. Jacuzzi jet nozzles connote a release of energy and potential for output and flow, respiration. Transposing a physiological map onto paper and puncturing the surface, Exspiro creates channels and openings on an otherwise two-dimensional plane.

Exspiro is connected to Tajima’s Pranayama series, which are sculptures incorporating jet nozzles into various solid materials such as rose quartz, wood, and marble. In Sanskrit, pranayama means “control of vital air” and is the ancient Vedic science of breath in which the pursuit of mental liberation is achieved through respiratory techniques to bring the unconscious autonomic nervous system under voluntary control.

Mika Tajima is an artist whose practice materializes techniques developed to shape the physicality, productivity, and desires of the human body. Her sculptures, paintings, videos, and installations focus on the embodied experience of ortho-architectonic control and computational life. From architectural systems to ergonomic design to psychographic data, Tajima’s works operate in the space between the immaterial and the tangible to create heightened encounters that target the senses and emotions of the viewer, underlining the dynamics of control and agency. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Art Production Fund, Los Angeles; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen; Bass Museum, Miami; Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul; Sculpture Center, New York; and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle; among others.

20 x 27 inches
Letterpress print
Edition of 15 + 5 APs + 1PP
Signed and numbered
2023