a rose is a rose is a rose is a rosa is a rosaceae is a rosale is a rosid
sievelike	lens-shaped
bean-like	boat-shaped
whip-like	scurfy
brainlike	flaky
sickle-shaped	hooked
shaped like the beak of a falcon	like a cut gem
like the coiled shell of a snail	a hood or a lid
or slipper-shapped	or scrotum-like
or sawdust-like	or wing-like
ladder-like	turnip-shaped
helmet-shaped	shield-shaped
lance-shaped	lyre-shaped
tongue-shaped	breast-shaped
with nipple like protuberances	mallow-like
resembling the horn of a cow	mouse-colored
lead-colored	wine colored
many colored	with many parts
with many forms	many-angled
with many whorls	and many spikes
with many flowers	each many-styled
and many stamen-ed	lime-loving
terminating abruptly	as if bitten off
with the margins rolled backward	an agreeable taste
fetid and lustrous	brilliant and finger-like
adapted for grasping	weakly climbing
adventitious	seed-bearing
spadix bearing	spathe bearing
bearing selenium	bearing resin
and often	and sticky

Concrete chatter, architectonic splices, and vernacular patterns form the basis for Idea/Equivalent, Mamiko Otsubo’s first solo show in New York. Collectively the works unravel the distance between call and response with lilting ruminations and noiseless drama. Morphological reference is used as a general, all-purpose tool; a convenient marker for where the disconnect between the canonical and the vernacular takes place. Accordingly, characteristic meanings manifest themselves in their particular manner of reappearance and are expressed in use more so than in mention.