Susie Kozawa

Susie Kozawa, a sound artist, composer and performer, works mostly with sound collages and site-specific installations, in which the gathering of sounds is a primary activity. She explores different acoustic spaces using musical instruments she makes out of found objects, kelp, modified toys and human voice. She creates live sound design for dance and theater productions. She was a founding member of Aono Jikken Ensemble.

New Media Gallery 2023-24 (with Brigid Kelly and Alex MacInnis): Tokio Florist Project

Artist Support Program 2008 (with Erin Shie Palmer): Recorded letters written by Asian American immigrants for a permanent sound and sculpture installation for the new Wing Luke Asian Museum.

 

More on Tokio Florist:

“Tokio Story” (2018) by Yuka Murakami

“This narrative doc film by Yuka Murakami sponsored by Japanese American National Museum (JANM). It was the last documentation of our family place before things were taken apart and dispersed.”
–Susie Kozawa

“On a Visit to Tokio Florist” (2019) by Giovanni Jance

“This is a 30-minute film by Giovanni Jance about our family home and flower shop. Tokio Florist was started in 1929 by my grandmother Yuki Sakai on Los Feliz Blvd in Los Angeles. We moved our residence and business to the Silverlake area in 1960. My mom (Sumi) officially closed the business January 1 2006 when she turned 90. Giovanni Jance started making this film February 14 1999 and completed ‘On a Visit to Tokio Florist’ February 14 2019. Sojin Kim is the off-camera interviewer. At the time Sojin was a curator at JANM and is now at the Smithsonian Institute.  Besides seeing and hearing my parents again, it is wonderful to see my Aunt Rose who helped in our family Tokio Florist flower shop.”
–Susie Kozawa

Exhibits
Susie Kozawa holding a small mechanical object in a room with dark wood and stained glass.

Brigid Kelly, Susie Kozawa, and Alex MacInnis | Tokio Florist Project READ MORE >

Susie Kozawa and Jesse Minkert | Nearly Seen, Closely Heard READ MORE >

Sound Clips
  • Susie Kozawa in a dark space with two projection screens showing the interior of a wooden house. Susie appears on the lefthand screen, in the foreground.
    Tokio Florist Project New Media Gallery Podcast
  • Susie Kozawa operates a hand-cranked instrument while two youth look on, one of them holding a tin can. Other objects in the background.
    Tokio Florist Workshop soundscape
  • Meditations on Water
    City Meditation Crew and Susie Kozawa - Pier 56
  • Susie Kozawa at JS 50
  • Coincidentiae Mirabiles album cover
    Jeph Jerman, Dave Knott, Susie Kozawa, Miroslaw Rajkowski, Mike Shannon - Singuli Tur Ad Astra
Education Projects

Blind Youth Audio Project 2012 READ MORE >

Blind Youth Audio Project 2015 READ MORE >

Zack Bent: Lean-out, Lean-to READ MORE >

Susie Kozawa operates a hand-cranked instrument while two youth look on, one of them holding a tin can. Other objects in the background.

Susie Kozawa: Tokio Florist Project READ MORE >