Dumpsters are an important component of Kaz Oshiro's aesthetic. The large, metal rubbish bins are one of a number of everyday objects - including refrigerators and microwave ovens - that are mediums of inspiration for the artist, who was born in Okinawa, Japan, but now lives in Los Angeles.
Oshiro is known for using mundane objects in his artistic practice: he creates a base in the shape and size of the item in question, covers it with stretch canvas, uses a multiplicity of techniques - and, voila, art.
When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) invited Oshiro to display some of his works in one of its new satellite locations, and to simultaneously enrol young, local students to help out, it was an opportunity that he just couldn't turn down.
"Lacma asked me a year ago to do a project here," the artist says. "I work solo. I needed two weeks to think about it, and to come up with a theme."
The result is "Chasing Ghosts", the latest in the museum's ongoing interaction with the Los Angeles community. Oshiro, who has pieces in the main Lacma location, brought forth his sculptures for a small capsule collection, comprising a couple of dumpsters, a bicycle, an umbrella and a large painted wall. The works are on display until June in a modern gallery space adjacent to the Charles White Elementary School in Los Angeles, a stone's throw from Koreatown.
Oshiro settled upon the premise of abstract expressionism, which he defines as one of the most important movements in art history, and a way to show that "while expressionism looks pretty simple, the process and ideas behind it are really deep".
Some 200 youngsters, their ages ranging from eight to 11, were recruited and separated into 20 groups; each group was given an assignment that contributed to the whole work. Oshiro met with them at a series of assemblies, and talked about "how unconventional tools and processes" could be used to create art. Among the techniques he demonstrated: how to blow paint through a tube, and sweep a broom across trays of pigment to create a delicate, feathery effect.