Unseen Reminiscences

What remains of a plant when its physical form is gone?

In Unseen Reminiscences (2026), Japanese glass artist Rui Sasaki creates a record of Tainan's vegetation through the impressions that plants leave inside glass.

Commissioned by Tainan Art Museum for the inaugural Tainan Art Biennale, the installation draws on vegetation gathered from the city's streets, parks and everyday surroundings, including plants associated with Tainan's layered history.

Sasaki places the collected plants between sheets of discarded window glass and heats them to high temperatures. As the organic material turns to ash, moisture, air and minerals produce bubbles, fractures and variations in colour. The resulting glass retains physical evidence of the plants without preserving their original forms.

Presented with light as part of the installation, the glass invites visitors to examine the subtle marks and differences within each piece.

The reclaimed window glass also connects the work to Tainan's built environment, bringing materials associated with architecture into contact with the city's vegetation.

Together, these impressions create an unconventional portrait of place. Rather than documenting Tainan through its landmarks, Sasaki records traces of the living environment that exists alongside them.