work in progress

Through our blogs, I have been inspired by all the images.
Here are what I have been doing for our drawing project.
I bought some Fabriano papers 20" x 30".
I am working on drawings that have traces from my collage making process.


















--a fragment from my wormhole collage using old Japanese bookpages.




















--a process of cutting out wormholes from old bookpages. I am keeping traces of cutting marks on paper surfaces.






















--Experimenting painting with Kakishibu( persimmon juice) on wormhole paper, I keep residue and traces of painting on paper. This dark rich brown color is from the persimmon juice, or the tannin extracted from green persimmons. In ancient times in Japan, persimmon juice was used to add durability to the paper, cloth and wood.














































--Sumi ink painting on residue of PVA adhesive from my collage making process

I am planning to keep developing these drawing methods. When deadline of this drawing project comes, I will cut into 100 pieces. In a way, I am flexible with size.

To see my related collage work, please check out:
http://www.yukokimura.com/printscollages.html

article link from NYtimes

hi all,

interesting show in NJ reviewed in the nytimes of prints http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/nyregion/23artsnj.html?ref=design.

Parameters

Yuko, we thought it would be a good idea to establish parameters for our 100 Drawings project. We will use the same paper and same format, and as for processes - anything goes.

Shelly suggested using Fabriano paper. We should agree on the size, and then we can all get started. Any suggestions for size?

Another project that we will try as an extension of the 100 Drawings is to make a drawing on a sheet of 22" x 30" Fabriano, then bring this along to the next meeting. At the meeting, we will tear up the drawings to smaller sizes, then exchange these snippets to work the drawings further.

Our next meeting in September will be in this lovely studio...details to come.

Exchange

On Sunday, we touched on some ideas that would be interesting to research...

1) Collaboration and testing the boundary between the collective whole and the individual. (Sounds Jungian...thoughts anyone?)

2) Drawing as a reflection of linguistics and identity - influenced by culture, generation, and lived experiences.

3) Engaging the blog as an active site for collaboration.

4) Sun Signs: Achala=Gemini, Shelly=Virgo, Andrea=Sagittarius, Yuko=what kind are you??

Specimens

Thinking about how to respond to Achala's book that started with stains and fungus, I found these morsels of inspiration in the back yard.

A day well spent.

Art House Project in Naoshima, Japan

I am interested in art projects that bring energy to a deserted place.

In this bad economy, small villages in countryside in Japan, have been having difficult time.

Last month, I had a chance to visit a small fishing village in Naoshima island in the Seto inland sea to see contemporary art, called Art House Project.
This project has been successfully bringing young visitors to this small island from not only from Japan, but from all over the world.

















Naoshima island is located in middle of no where, where people would overlook, but the scenery is so calm and beautiful. They have a population of about 3,500 people.
In this island, in Honmura village, their art activities called “the Art House Project’ began more than 10 years ago. The method used in Naoshima is site specific permanent work. They invited contemporary artists and let them select a site in the village. And then, each artist planned and produced work for that location. The architectural space which are houses that were inhabited for many years. Since the young people moved out to the big cities to get jobs, some of these houses became vacant and ruined over the years. Invited artists attempted to transform these old houses into works of art. Artworks are not exhibited inside these buildings, rather, art and architecture are coexisted together in the environment. The artists began by specifically understanding nature and history of each site of Naoshima, then decided what kind of art work should be made. They remodeled these old houses, transforming the space of each house into an artwork. All the works are open to public.






























































Arriving to the island, first, we got on a small local bus to get to a dentist house. Long time ago. this house was dentist office and it became ruined. The contemporary artist, Shinro Otake transformed this house into his own art work. Otake is well known as collage artist who makes scrap book endlessly in both 2D and 3D. For this project, he worked on this house was to paint and collage using the whole house as canvases. He saved various materials that are aged and rusted over time. He also saved old Japanese architectural elements such as windows, pillars, doors and even small children’s graffiti and scribbling that were found on the earthy walls. He also travels around the world and produces artworks. He decided to incorporate the shape of the boat in order to show the feeling of movement.

There are about 8 art house projects on view in this village.
The most amazing drawing/painting installation was done by Senju Hiroshi titled " The falls"(2006). This house is called "Ishibashi(stone bridge)" . To view his installation,
click here.

For more detailed information on Art House Project in Naoshima, please check out the website:
www.naoshima-is.co.jp

The following images are installation views of the photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto. He is famous for a series, titled "Seascapes". By exposing this framed black and white photographs to the severe environment outside of the museum(the museum building is designed by Tadao Ando), he is looking for weathering his artworks over time. He also installed one of his works on the cliff!
To view more of his seascapes, click,
here