Socially Engaged Art, Installation
Threatening Water:
I am concerned about today’s environmental conditions, especially water issues.
I am from Hiroshima, Japan. Japan is a small country consisting of islands, surrounded by the sea. There is the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime prefecture, situated 100 kilometers away from Hiroshima. The Fukushima disaster, was caused by a large tsunami, triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, and a large area of land and sea was contaminated by radiation.
In this installation, I use stage setting concepts from the “Theater of the Absurd.” This is a post–World War II theatre movement of plays of absurdist fiction by primarily European playwrights, and the style of theater that evolved from their work. I am using the idea of theater to portray the futility of human struggle amid the senselessness of the world, with shipping pallets forming an unstable floor, and a chair for an absent character. Fish dominate the stage, and as objects they are contaminated and ridiculous.
I have used blue lighting to suggest the radiation poisoning in the sea by caused by cesium, tritium, and other radioactive elements. They can be a radiation hazard and cause cancer when inhaled, ingested via food or water, or absorbed through the skin.
The issue of nuclear power is controversial because it offers a source of energy, while also being harmful to the human body. This exhibit is to increase awareness of the threat of radiation from nuclear power plants and natural disasters.
LICHEN DRAWING:
My drawings were inspired by the various forms of lichens that can be found in the mountainous area where I live. At first, from a distance,
I was curious to see the color moss green in the forest. Now, I see the lichens everywhere in daily life and am attracted by its various forms and subtle colorings.
Lichen is a unique organism composed of a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont), which may be an algae or a cyanobacteria, that are in a relationship that is symbiotic. Depending on the amount of light and moisture they receive, the lichens will grow into different forms and colors.
The habitat of most lichens is in moist and decaying wood and leaves and can exist in many layers on living and decomposing organisms. I am interested in abstract images I see in the patterns of lichens in nature. The lichens grow freely in an infinite variety of complex forms.
My drawings are with pen and ink on white paper, which I feel can capture the delicate textures, shapes, values and lines found in the abstract imagery of lichens.
DREAM AND FANTASIES:
My artwork expresses my inner voice which has a mixture of traditional and modern influences. As a printmaker, I am experimenting especially with color, texture and patterns. In my photopolymer, and monoprints, I create imaginative, abstract compositions based on images and colors that reflect my dreams and fantasies. My favorite printmaking medium is monoprint with chine collé—a process in which I use plastic plates to make unique ink prints, collaged with colorful decorative paper.
I was born and raised in Japan. My artwork has been influenced by stylized depictions of nature that are an integral part of Japanese culture. Growing up in Japan, in daily life I encountered graphic images of nature on objects such as screens, kimono designs, wrapping paper, greeting cards, etc — all sources I draw upon in my artwork. My Japanese background still influences my thinking and the way I see my surroundings, often noticing the seasonal changes in flowers, plants, and landscape. My twenty-year Ikebana practice, as well as the patterns and colors of the decorative 17th century Rimpa School paintings inspire me to create the motif for my prints.
In my recent work, I create images of rainy scenery which give me the impression of dancing, chatting and weeping.
I often fantasize about the forms of water which give me motifs of my creation.
My artwork expresses my inner voice which has a mixture of traditional and modern influences. As a printmaker, I am experimenting especially with color, texture and patterns. In my photopolymer, and monoprints, I create imaginative, abstract compositions based on images and colors that reflect my dreams and fantasies. My favorite printmaking medium is monoprint with chine collé—a process in which I use plastic plates to make unique ink prints, collaged with colorful decorative paper.
I was born and raised in Japan. My artwork has been influenced by stylized depictions of nature that are an integral part of Japanese culture. Growing up in Japan, in daily life I encountered graphic images of nature on objects such as screens, kimono designs, wrapping paper, greeting cards, etc — all sources I draw upon in my artwork. My Japanese background still influences my thinking and the way I see my surroundings, often noticing the seasonal changes in flowers, plants, and landscape. My twenty-year Ikebana practice, as well as the patterns and colors of the decorative 17th century Rimpa School paintings inspire me to create the motif for my prints.
In my recent work, I create images of rainy scenery which give me the impression of dancing, chatting and weeping.
I often fantasize about the forms of water which give me motifs of my creation.
