Hyundai Terrace Commission: Kelly Akashi l Renewal, Loss, and Memory

Artist Kelly Akashi reveals the emotional and technical processes behind the latest Hyundai Terrace Commission, a site-specific installation on the Whitney Museum’s fifth-floor outdoor gallery. Featuring glass sculpture, metalwork, animated video, and framed objects drawn from the artist’s personal archives, the exhibition reflects on renewal, loss, memory, and the ways objects carry inherited histories. The exhibition meditates on the loss of Akashi's home and studio in the Eaton Fire and is anchored by "Monument (Altadena)," a recreation of the artist's chimney—the only structure left standing in the aftermath. In the words of Akashi: "I'm very interested in creating works that speak to other life or other objects being passive recorders of history. They…create these connective tissues between generations." The artist, in collaboration with an expert team of masons, crafted the sculpture in luminous cast glass brick to reclaim fire as a means of creation rather than destruction. Across the terrace and nearby hall, heirloom doilies from Akashi’s grandmother reappear as CT-scan animations, metal sculpture, and printed works, exploring what we inherit and how memories instilled in objects live on in many forms. "It's my hope that this can connect with people who feel a sense of displacement in various ways, or who are struggling to understand what home means for themselves," says Akashi when considering the work’s broader resonance. Learn more about “Hyundai Terrace Commission: Kelly Akashi” on the Hyundai Artlab website: https://artlab.hyundai.com/ Follow Hyundai Artlab on Instagram ▶   / hyundai.artlab   Want to learn more about the partnership between Hyundai Motor and the Whitney Museum? Watch more▶    • Whitney Biennial 2026 l Curator Walkthrough      • Whitney Biennial 2026 l Opening Film      • Hyundai Motor x Whitney Museum Partnership   #Hyundai #WhitneyMuseum #WhitneyBiennial #HyundaiTerraceCommission #KellyAkashi