Printmaker Yuko Hama at the O Gallery

Wood print and etching by Yuko Hama, featured at the O Gallery in The Ginza, Tokyo.

I had the pleasure of meeting this young printmaker on one of my Tokyo art excursions.

She was kind enough to explain to me her process of layering wood relief prints under a final layer of etching. Her pieces have a wonderful sense of narrative to them that I find really engaging.


As a personal reflection, I think part of the charm in her work is similar to that dark whimsy I find in Edward Gorey’s illustrations that inspired the introduction to the PBS show “Mystery!”. The subject matter both artists create is wisely gloomy without taking itself too seriously.

The artist herself, this photo taken by the OGallery. Click the image to view the translated Gallery’s website.
For more information on Ms. Hama, just click on the ‘exhibition’ area of the gallery website where you will find more images of her work as well as her C/V!

Illustrated Book of Japanese Monsters, 1972

Yūrei (ghost), Illustrated Book of Japanese Monsters, 1972

Tabaimo “Te Te Te” at Gallery Koyanagi

Gallery Koyanagi was a little tricky for me to find at first, but so very rewarding. The current exhibit (that ended the day after I saw it) featured the artist Tabaimo, in her show “Te Te Te”. The gallery’s description of the show called it “an exhibition to commemorate a set of illustrations produced for Suichi Yashida’s book “Akunin”, featuring new drawings and other works that depict the touch and sensation of one’s hand.”
Being only the second gallery and show that I had seen in Japan, I couldnt keep from thinking about how I almost passed over this gallery, only to have missed such a professional and profound exhibit featuring one of Japan’s most talented contemporary artists.
Drawing is my personal favorite means of expression, and it was very exciting to me to see an artist that pushes the boundaries of that medium. In her more traditional pieces, large sheets of handmade paper are adhered to each other, forming layers in which rough windows are cut or torn away, revealing the detailed layers of drawings underneath. Each of these pieces is roughly 4x5ft.


In this piece, layers of rice paper are adorned with drawings of insect wings, then adhered to create opacity and a sense of depth.


“Te Te Te” is a celebration of the completion of a collection of drawings Tabaimo created for Suichi Yashida’s book “Akunin”. Most of the illustrations are small and created with traditional Japanese ink on illustration board. Each piece is a surreal exploration of manipulated anatomy and the human condition. Altered images of the human body are merged with iconic imagery associated with modern Japanese life, and in this way, contemporary Japanese culture is dissected, its darker aspects analyzed.

Here is the complete book. I purchased it for about 18000yen at the gallery’s front desk. It is such a little treasure, with each page a little masterpiece. Worth every penny, or 1 yen coin, or whatever.





The show also featured several pieces that were related thematically to the book, but were not part of the series of included illustrations. In this series, the artists uses Japanese ink to draw on to pig skin, which is then treated like embroidery fabric. As a finishing touch, human hair is needle-pointed into the skin to complete the piece.

The artist’s use of hair references the cultural significance placed upon hair in Japan and other Asian cultures. In many Japanese horror stories and movies, hair is used as a way of indicating the nature of a ghost. In “The RIng”, originally a Japanese book and film before it was adapted for American audiences, the long, damp, matted hair of the ghost indicates that she was feral and neglected, and often disembodied locks of her hair appear throughout the story, almost like a warning or a premonition.

Also featured, were a few altered books that the artist created. The 3-Dimensional brain in this piece is comprised of about 100 pages in the book, each hand cut to create the recognizable topography lobes and folds.

Reflecting upon the exhibit, I feel that I experienced a very satisfying balance of pieces that addressed very universal themes, as well as pieces that reflected a very insular visual vocabulary exclusive to this region. Similar to the symbolic imagery associated with Western Religious Iconography or with 15th Century Netherlandish Portraiture, Japan has a large bank of inherited imagery. We are all familiar with the incorporation of the floating horizons of Ukiyo-e prints, or the nautical imagery and textile patterns often referenced in contemporary Asian artwork (and it Western art and design as well), but Tabaimo seeks to incorporate into that heritage the mundane and utilitarian symbolism seen in subways, streets and vending machines, illuminating and informing  contemporary Japan.
For more information on the artists Tabaimo, check out this great interview between her and the Tokyo Art Beat, an amazingly developed, updated and informed bilingual website and community that provides a centralized directory and voice for the galleries, events and venues in the Tokyo area.

My Introduction to Art in The Ginza, Tokyo

My two day excursion to The Ginza was my second solo venture into the Tokyo area from my friend’s little apartment in Kita-Narashino. After being completely confused by the trains (which are actually not confusing at all once you start to understand the system) I finally arrived around dusk in one of the most expensive, upscale areas in Tokyo. The largest street in the area is Chuo-Dori, which is bejeweled with upscale retail like as Louis Vutton, Chanel, Hermes, De Beers, Tiffany and Apple.

That is a giant movie screen

Most of the customers were white people
I was under the misguided impression that the instructions I had written down from Google would be sufficient enough to find the first gallery, and from there I could grab a map or brochure to find the rest of the galleries on a list I had put together from the Tokyo Art Beat website.
False.
I wasted a precious hour and a half wandering around all the back streets, wondering if these elusive galleries existed at all, when all of the sudden my eyes refocused to a sight right in front of my face that I recognized as one of the galleries on my list, Gallery G2.

Though basically the size of a walk-in closet, this little gallery was well maintained by a sweet owner who, lucky for me, spoke English. The current show features artists Moriya Reiko and Nakamura Shigeru. Most of the paintings were part of a series called ‘Cosmos’ that depicted images of nebulae and stars created with rhinestones and glitter, but one of the more interesting pieces was the painting of this female figure:


Though I question the intentionality, I really enjoy the texture of the surface, the torn bits of canvas acting as muted embellishments, and the rhinestones surprisingly not distracting from the overall impression that this piece is about something a bit deeper.
From what I can tell on the gallery’s website, the shows they feature range from fairly interesting and high-brow, to very kitschy. Either way, the owner was kind enough to provide me with directions to the next gallery on my list, and A MAP of all the major galleries in the area!
I was able to visit at least four more galleries that evening before they all closed at 7pm. Amongst them were the Canon photo gallery, who’s current exhibit is called “Soul Brothers” and features beautiful black and white photographs by  Yoshihiro Tatsuki, postwar photojournalist Emile Muller, and French photographer Bernard Matussiere, who studied under both Tatsuki and Muller.

It was a lovely, if somewhat cold, collection of some of History’s more important photographs, but I was not permitted to photograph the exhibit so I just enjoyed the viewing and moved on.
Another gallery I was able to hunt down was K’s Gallery, another one-room gallery featuring the pieces by Ryoko Fukao. While the artist’s paintings were very reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s linear works, my favorite pieces were these tiny paper creations:

I really liked the simplicity of the crisp lines and arrows cut away carefully from the top layer to reveal the hidden layer of magazine images.

Yeah that’s my reflection, hi guys!

I visited two more galleries this evening, Gallery Koyanagi featuring the young Japanese artist Tabaimo who participated in the Venice Biennial and the O Gallery, where I met Yuko Hama, an accomplished young printmaker who was kind enough to share her process with me. Both of these shows were awesome and deserve their own post, so stay tuned!

The Creative Singularity: dealing, or not dealing, with Artists’ Block

One of the most difficult things for me as an artist, is finding my own original voice that defines my visual vocabulary. At this point in my career, on the verge of finishing my undergraduate degree, I still feel like my work is very inconsistent, and lacks that special cohesive quality that allows my viewers to identify my work as my own at first glance. I am very noncommittal though. I have a bad habit of beginning what I think will become a series of pieces, but I usually can only make about 2 pieces before getting bored of that subject, or feeling like I have outgrown it a bit. Another idea comes along that seems more interesting to me and I abandon my previous thread of ideas.
I have always prided myself on my eclectic taste; there are just so many things that I find fascinating, and I want to find a way to incorporate them all into my visual language, but it usually comes off as sporadic, rather than grandiose in concept. Am I just not seeing the big picture that would allow me to connect the conceptual dots between such a variety of interests?
But I think the real issue isn’t not knowing what I like and dont like, its that my vision becomes so cluttered with the scintillating debris of passions, projects and hobbies, that I lose sight of what is essential, of why all of those things matter to me and connect with me on a personal level, and thus connect with my audience. I can see the symptoms, by-products and effects of what makes me unique as an artist and a person, but I cant quite make out what that thing actually is, or more importantly, what it looks like. I feel like I am trying to look into a black hole. I can see light and time bending around it, and I can see everything caught in its gravitational well, but I can not see the entity itself.

Hello!

Akihabara
Originally uploaded by Christina Day

My name is Christina. I am a visual artist and a writer. At last I am starting a blog to collect my artwork, photography and musings, as well as interesting links and articles I find relevant to this subject matter. I also travel whenever possible, play a few instruments and maintain a slew of creative hobbies. I make it a point to learn as much as I can about philosophy, ethics and science. As a personal philosophy, I believe that all of my interests have the potential of reinforcing each other, with the goal of forming the cohesive tapestry and aesthetic that is reflected in my artwork, as well as my personality and day to day life. I'm looking forward to sharing myself with you!