Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Altadena Artist’s Glass Memorial to Eaton Fire Home Opens in Manhattan at Whitney Biennial

[photo credit: Whitney Museum of American Art]

A 13-foot chimney built from 821 cast glass bricks recreates the sole structure surviving the January 2025 blaze

A glass reconstruction of the chimney that was the only structure left standing after the Eaton Fire destroyed Kelly Akashi’s Altadena home is now on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, part of the 82nd Whitney Biennial running through August 23.

The installation, titled “Monument (Altadena),” places the community’s fire loss explicitly on a national stage. Akashi, 43, is an associate professor in the Graduate Art program at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Her colleague Ei Arakawa-Nash, a core faculty member in the same program since 2022, will also, separately, represent Japan at the 61st Venice Biennale with an exhibition opening May 9.

Both faculty members are now presenting work simultaneously at the Venice Biennale and Whitney Biennial.

Akashi’s Altadena home, a Spanish Colonial bungalow she purchased in 2021, burned in the Eaton Fire in January 2025, according to the New York Times. The chimney, originally built in 1926, was the only structure that survived, according to a Hyundai Motor press release announcing the commission. Akashi worked with a mason to reconstruct it piece by piece using luminous cast glass bricks.

The chimney’s 821 glass bricks and metal armature weigh approximately 6,550 pounds, according to the New York Times. Another 538 bricks form a pathway sunk flush with the Whitney’s fifth-floor outdoor terrace, recreating the walkway to her former home.

“The act of rebuilding is not simply about material endurance; it is a deliberate labor of care, an engagement with history, and an act of reclamation,” Akashi said in a statement released by Hyundai Motor.

“It only functions with a home,” Akashi said of the chimney in an interview published by the Los Angeles Times. “It always signals that absence.”

The installation also includes “Inheritance (Distressed),” a Cor-Ten steel work referencing doilies that belonged to Akashi’s grandmother, according to Lisson Gallery. Akashi had rescued the doilies from a family garage sale but lost them in the fire.

Arakawa-Nash, born in 1977 in Fukushima, Japan, will present “Grass Babies, Moon Babies” at the Japan Pavilion in Venice, organized by the Japan Foundation. The exhibition runs May 9 through November 22. Both the artist and his co-curators are based outside Japan, a first for the pavilion, according to Call for Curators.

Tonight at 7 p.m., Arakawa-Nash gives a free public lecture at ArtCenter’s Hillside Campus, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena. The event, part of the college’s spring Graduate Art seminar series organized by Jack Bankowsky and Jason Smith, is open to the public and does not require an RSVP, according to ArtCenter’s event listing.

“I am excited about this opportunity to converse with historical performances at the Biennale,” Arakawa-Nash said in a statement published by Artforum.

ArtCenter’s Graduate Art program has a core faculty of seven artists and writers and approximately 35 students, according to the program’s listing on e-flux. The Whitney Biennial, established in 1932, has featured more than 3,600 artists to date, according to the Whitney Museum.

The Venice Biennale exhibition will feature performances by Arakawa-Nash’s young twins alongside baby dolls, according to Call for Curators, exploring themes of parenthood, the Japanese diaspora, and nationalism.

Akashi’s Whitney commission remains on view through August 23. Admission to the biennial is free for visitors 25 and under, according to Artsy.