Yuki Nakamura
- 2010 Grants for Artist Projects
- 2003 EDGE Professional Development Program
- 2005 Grants for Artist Projects
- 2017 Fellowship
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Duration for ART BEASTIES residency : January 20th ~February 2nd, 2020
Public Viewing Dates: January 30th 6PM-8PM & February 1st 12PM-2PM
at Alhadeff Studio : 201 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109.(Seattle Center behind Cornish playhouse)
Please come see us working in action during public viewings!
The Cornish Arts Incubator Residency aims to facilitate risk taking in the allied arts. The goal for this program is to support artists in the creation of work that is outside the boundaries of their genre, discipline, or comfort zone.
Participating ART BEASTIES Member
Seattle: Paul Komada, Ko IRKT, Junko Yamamoto
NY: Tokio Kuniyoshi, Kakeru Asai, Masaya Nakayama
London: Yuki Nakamura
Tokyo: MAHO HIKINO, Mayu Kuroda
ART BEASTIES is a Japanese Artists Collective situated internationally in NY, Seattle, London & Tokyo. The members regularly meet in the Internet, informing and inspiring each other to find alternative ways to recognize, devise and present Japanese contemporary art and ideas.
The members will work on individual project(s), and share their “in-process” images and notes throughout the duration of the residency. This will create complex feedback loops between the artists hopefully to unearth the new perspectives on Japanese art today.
The collective will stage a “co-working” office space inside Alhadeff Studio, in order to organize and exhibit the data and knowledge gathered during the incubation. The group will also contemplate on the feeling — social anxiety stemming from “working together alone” in such “shared” space.
http://artbeasties.com/
www.instagram.com/artbeasties/
https://www.cornish.edu/cornish-playhouse/arts-incubator/_
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「都美セレクション グループ展 2018」開催グループが決定しました
2017/10/19
Art Beasties’ new project entitles “Butterfly Effect Time Difference 時差 vol.3 New York-Seattle-London-Tokyo” has been selected by Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Tokyo. The exhibition will be held in June 2018.
3グループの展覧会を開催
「都美セレクション グループ展」は、当館の展示空間だからこそ実現可能な、新しい表現に挑むグループの展覧会を開催するものです。グループによる企画を公募し、審査を経て選抜したグループの展覧会を、当館ギャラリーで開催します。
第7回目の募集となる今回は、2017年9月にプレゼンテーション審査を行い、3グループを選出しました。ジャンルは絵画、写真、映像、インスタレーションとさまざまです。展覧会は2018年6月から7月にかけて開催する予定です。それぞれの表現を追求する作家たちの多様な作品と、そのユニークな企画にご期待ください。
第7回目の募集となる今回は、2017年9月にプレゼンテーション審査を行い、3グループを選出しました。ジャンルは絵画、写真、映像、インスタレーションとさまざまです。展覧会は2018年6月から7月にかけて開催する予定です。それぞれの表現を追求する作家たちの多様な作品と、そのユニークな企画にご期待ください。
開催グループ ※開催日程の詳細は後日掲載します。
- 展覧会名
- Quiet Dialogue:インビジブルな存在と私たち
- グループ名
- Back and Forth Collective（代表：滝 朝子）
- 会場
- 東京都美術館 ギャラリーA
- 展覧会名
- 複数形の世界のはじまりに展
- グループ名
- 複数形の世界のはじまりに展 アーティストグループ（代表：横谷奈歩）
- 会場
- 東京都美術館 ギャラリーB
- 展覧会名
- 蝶の羽ばたき Time Difference 時差 vol.3 New York-Seattle-London-Tokyo
- グループ名
- ART BEASTIES（代表：曳野真帆）
- 会場
- 東京都美術館 ギャラリーC
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2017 Artist Trust Fellowship Award Winners
Artist Trust Announces 16 Recipients of its 2017 Fellowship Award ProgramMay 15, 2017 – Artist Trust is pleased to announce the names of the 16 recipients of the 2017 Fellowship. First presented in 1987, Fellowship provides a total of $107,000 in funding to artists across Washington State and is one of Artist Trust’s flagship award programs.
About the Artist
Yuki Nakamura (Tacoma) is from the Shikoku region in the southern part of Japan. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo in 1994, and earned a MFA degree from University of Washington in 1997. Yuki approaches ceramics as part of a multidisciplinary practice that integrates ceramic processes with sculpture, digital media, and architecture. She has had solo exhibitions at Peeler Art Center, DePauw University in Greencastle, SOIL Gallery, and Howard House Contemporary Art. Her multimedia collaborations have been featured at Henry Art Gallery, Santa Fe International New Media Festival, and Whatcome Museum. Yuki’s work has been reviewed in international art magazines, such as Art in America, Whitewall, Sculpture Magazine, and Ceramics Monthly. She has also been awarded numerous prestigious awards including the Pollock-Krasner Grant, Artist Trust Fellowship, and the Joshibi Creative and Research Fellowship. She has participated in multinational artist-in-residence programs at Chateau de La Napoule in France, Novara Arte Cultura in Italy, Vermont Studio Center and Centrum. Her work is part of the Tacoma Art Museum permanent collection, the Microsoft Art Collection, and the Swedish Cancer Institute’s art collection. She is currently a member of ART BEASTIES, a Japanese Artist Collective based in New York.Yuki received a 2010 GAP for financial support during, and to purchase materials associated with, the creation of a new work titled Fragmented. Comprised of cast porcelain sculptures and video art, Nakaura will create animated imagery and project them onto porcelain sculptures creating a line that looks like a drawing that has to come to life. Nakamura will explore evolving tactile effects on objects, and the contrast between porcelain skin and the digital image.Yuki received a 2005 GAP to partially cover the cost of replacing a mid-size manual electric kiln with an automatic large kiln that includes digital control, a safety timer, and shelf kit. “My ceramic work requires intense and very time consuming firings, each taking up to 20 hours. With the challenges of daily life, uninterrupted studio time to create new work is increasingly difficult,” says Nakamura. Time saved with the new kiln will help prepare a new body of work, A Passage from Somewhere to Somewhere Else, to be shown as part of a solo show at Howard House Gallery in October 2005.Yuki also received a 1999 GAP and 2002 Fellowship.Artist’s Addenda: In 2008, Yuki Nakamuru’s artist monograph book was published.Information included above was provided by artist at the time of application.
From the Artist
I am very grateful to receive an Artist Trust Fellowship after working in the Pacific Northwest for 22 years. The Fellowship will bring significant financial support and success in creating new works for upcoming exhibitions. I am creating a new work for an exhibition entitled “In the Shadow of Olympus,” exploring a theme of 2020 Tokyo Olympics in collaboration with Art Beasties. For the next five years, I am organizing exhibitions with Art Beasties in New York, Tokyo, London, Osaka, and Seattle. The Fellowship will support my traveling, shipping artwork, and accommodations.Yuki Nakamura
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Time Difference 時差展 VOL.2 SEATTLE ‒ NEW YORK ‒ TOKYO ‒ KOBE
会期:2016年6月1日(水) ~ 2016年6月5日(土)
時間:10:00~18:00 (最終日は14:00まで)
会場:兵庫県立美術館 ギャラリー棟 (〒651-0073 兵庫県神戸市中央区脇浜海岸通1-1-1) 入場料: 無料
http://artbeasties.com/exhibition/
アーティストトーク&レセプションパーティー
6月4日(土)14:00~
※参加アーティストによるトーク、コンテンポラリーダンスのイベントなどを企画中です。
※イベントの詳細は、Face Boookページ(https://www.facebook.com/ArtBeasties/)にて最新情報をご確認ください。
助成
公益財団法人 朝日新聞文化財団
公益財団法人 神戸文化支援基金
4/21から6/5まで、クラウドファンディングにて応援してくださる方を募集します。 http://www.booster-parco.com/project/56
出展アーティスト:
■NY Tokio Kuniyoshi(写真、インスタレーション)・浅井翔(ミクストメディア)・mattuo(ドローイング)・中山誠弥(絵画) ■シアトル Ko IRKT(絵画)・中村ユキ(インスタレーション)・駒田ポール(ニッティング、映像)
■東京 曳野真帆(ビデオインスタレーション)・北村早紀 / 中村花絵(合作・シルクスクリーン)・安永則代(ミクストメディア) ■神戸 黒田真由(企画補助)
「Time Difference(時差)」をテーマに、ART BEASITESのメンバーからシアトル・NY・東京・神戸の4都市で暮らす11人の日本人アーティストが 参加する企画展です。11人のアーティストは、国内外から実際に兵庫県立美術館会場に集まり、合同で展示会場の設営を行います。「時差」に 対しての考察をそれぞれの手法で表現した作品展示とともに、4都市を繋ぐリアルな時差に着目したコラボレーションワーク等の作品によって「、 時差」という大きなストーリーをもった展覧会を構成します。単に時刻が違うということでなく、時刻と場所が異なることで生まれる感覚の“ズレ” を、ペインティング、映像、写真、木版画、ファッション、インスタレーションなど、グループだからこそ可能である各アーティストの強みを生かした多 角的な視点で表現していきます。また出展アーティストによるイベント(アーティストトーク等)も企画します。
兵庫県立美術館で行われる本展覧会は、NYをベースに活動してきた私たち”ART BEASTIES”にとって日本初となる展示となります。初めて日本 に「帰る」こととなる“ART BEASTIES”の作品たち。私たちの姿勢や創造性が作品を通して日本の会場や鑑賞者の目にどのように映るのか。そ れは私たちのひとつの帰着点への挑戦であり、そして同時に新たな出発点となるはずです。
この「Time Difference(時差)展」は2015年4月にシアトルで第1弾が開催されています。この第1弾はギャラリーの企画公募に選出されたことに より、1ヶ月という長期展示にくわえ会場費の免除と制作補助費のもと開催されました。オープニングには約700人の来場者を集め、さらに現地メ ディアでの紹介や、美術関係者も多く来場し盛大な成功を収めました。
今回、兵庫県立美術館で行われる「Time Difference(時差)展」第2弾では、これらの経験から得た自信と新たなテーマの発見を生かし、より挑 戦的でかつ完成度の高い、貴重な展覧会になると自負しております。
企画のねらい、メッセージ
私たち ART BEASTIES のメンバーは、住む場所はもちろん、年齢も経験値も作品スタイルもバックボーンもすべて異なります。メンバーは別々の 国に暮らし、Eメール、LINE、Skypeなどでコミュニケーションを取りながらグループの活動を続けています。距離、時差がある以上、オンラインの やり取りで活動のほとんどを進行させる、それは私たちの活動において、長所とも短所ともなる、大きな特徴です。普段直接会わない(人によって は会ったこともない)アーティストがEメールでコンセプトをやり取りし、グループとしての企画を立ち上げ,スカイプでミーティングをし、展覧会を ひらく、それは特殊なことです。
私たちの間にはたくさんの疑問やズレ、共鳴や共感といったものが生まれては流れていきます。 この「時差」というテーマは、単に時刻の違いだけでなく、相手や世界との「差」を常に見つめ、互いに問い続けることで、自分自身を捉え直し、私 たちの制作活動に刺激と革新をもたらしていく鍵となっています。
このようなコミュニケーションは、実は現代社会においても切実なテーマではないかと感じています。私たちは今や、高度な通信技術や交通手段 によって、いつどんな時でも、容易に誰かとつながり、知りたいことや見たいものを検索・共有することができます。しかし、そうした瞬間的・同時代 的な世界とのつながりは、時に私たちの「差」を露呈させ、孤独や危機感を感じさせることもあるでしょう。
私たちの生きる「今」とは何なのか?国を超えてつながり、そして出会った日本人であるART BEASTIESだからこそ得ることのできた表現は、展 示会へ来場された方々に「今」という時間を問いかけ、生活や居場所、自分の存在といったものを改めて再考するきっかけを提供できるのでは ないかと考えています。さらにそれは、世界へに対する新しいアプローチ、想像力を生み出すはずです。
そんな思いを込めて開催する兵庫県立美術館での「Time Difference展」。
ART BEASTIESとして日本初となるこの展覧会を、ぜひご支援いただけたら幸いです。
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SEATTLE PUBLIC UTILITES
CULTURAL PARSPECTIVES, PART 1
Seattle Municipal Tower Platform Gallery
700 Fifth Avenue, Level Three Concourse
April 8–June 29, 2016
The exhibition Cultural Perspectives features Seattle Public Utilities recent artwork purchases for their Portable Works collection. Much of the artwork relates to the experience and social concerns from communities of color. The exhibition will be presented in three separate installations and features a total of 66 contemporary artworks ranging from carvings, paintings, ceramics, photography and prints by 45 artists.
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SUITCASE – Curator: Daniele Di Lodovico
Opening Reception: April 7th, 2015 5 – 8 PM
Gallery 110 (110 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104)
The project: Suitcase is an ongoing art exhibition founded with the goal of bringing together artists from different countries around the world. The project aspires to get to know new artists and places and then recount this journey through the various languages of contemporary art.
The first manifestation of Suitcase was the New York Public Library’s Art Collection Galleries on April 13, 2005 and included only ten American artists and ten Italian artists. Only after this first step did I realize how experientially powerful this project had the potential to be. It was the perfect vehicle for enhancing my knowledge of contemporary art, bringing international exposure to talented artist and my own personal growth as a curator.
The reason I chose to take this project abroad was so that I could compare a multitude of experiences of the artists I had come to know with an ever growing quantity of experiences of artists from other countries.
With no guidance and only a desire for exploration I decided the best way to accomplish my goal was to work with small pieces of paper that were easily transportable in a suitcase for international travel. Therefore, I chose Fabriano paper, a special kind of paper from native Italy, with dimensions of 11,5 x 17 cm.
I have been pleasantly surprised in that every time I have contacted the artists and explained my intentions, all of the artists have felt challenged by the limited size of the paper and have been enthusiastic about the “growing” art exhibition.
There is no specific theme that I require of the artists and I send the sheets of paper asking for an original drawing or artwork, without further directions. I want only that the artists express themselves following their personal artistic aesthetic.
This project has been exhibited in a Public Art Library (New York – 2005), in museums (Italy 2005 and Denmark 2006), in a former school turned into an art gallery with studio artists (Israel 2005), in a cultural center (Poland 2006), in an art gallery (Belgium 2007) in the Italian Center of Culture (Germany 2008), the Jacob Lawrence Gallery Art Gallery – University of Washington (Seattle 2010). I really like the idea of connecting different places with different backgrounds throughout this project and, above all, art.
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Kukai (2013) was selected for BELLINGHAM NATIONAL 2015 ART EXHIBITION & AWARDS
Juried by Scott Lawrimore, Director of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington
May 31 – September 6, 2015, Lightcatcher Building
Bellingham National 2015 is a juried exhibition featuring artworks in a variety of media, including video, photography, ceramics, mixed media, paintings and more. Representing artists from 16 states, including Washington, the exhibition will include 101 pieces from more than 60 artists. Juried by Scott Lawrimore, Director of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, the exhibition attracted more than 600 artists who submitted works to be considered. Lawrimore selected pieces that inspire not only a sense of wonderment, but also curiosity and reflection about the meanings of art. “There is a strong undercurrent of social justice, gender identity, ecological, human rights, and other political issues running throughout the exhibition,” says Lawrimore. “While this represents some of the societal concerns of artists working in the 21st century, I also wanted there to be pure aesthetic reflection and contemplation ‘breaks’…of art with more formal concerns.” The top three artists will receive cash awards–$2000 first prize, $1000 second prize and $500 third prize. The exhibition will also include a popular choice award of $500, offering the community an opportunity to give their feedback on the artworks.
Save the date! Walk through the exhibition with juror Scott Lawrimore on Sun., May 31, 1pm at the Lightcatcher Building. More info here.
The Lightcatcher at Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Washington / Olson Kundig Architects
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Time Difference時差: Seattle–New York–Tokyo
Upcoming Exhibition at SOIL
April 2 – May 2, 2015
Opening Reception: First Thursday, April 2, 6–8pm
Artists:
Seattle: Paul Komada, Akiko Masker, Yuki Nakamura
New York: Kakeru Asai, Ko Irkt, Tokio Kuniyoshi
Tokyo: MAHO HIKINO, Saki Kitamura, Mayu Kuroda, Noriyo Yasunaga
Special Thanks (Music Installation)
Seattle: Sunyata (Yuya Izumi), Blake Ryan
New York: COPUT (Ken Arii, Hiroki Oshiro)
Tokyo: Muku Kobayashi, Taiga Hirabayashi
ART BEASTIES is a Japanese artist collective based in New York City. Time Difference is our first collaboration between the members exploring time, locations, and surroundings from various perspectives. We live in different time zones, countries and cities; we communicate online and some of us never met in person. Starting off from experiencing somewhat counter-intuitive and awkward moments created through Skype communication between three time zones, we explore the gap in our perception of time in the different time zones. The Art Beasties members investigate new discoveries and possibilities that real-time, time lag, digital glitch and cultural and linguistic context would create the process. The projects include live music performance, photography, installation, video, and painting.
SOIL Collective and Artist-run Gallery
112 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Hours: Noon – 5 pm, Thurs – Sun
206 – 264 – 8061
gallery@soilart.org
www.soilart.org
ART BEASTIES: Japanese Artist Collective Pop-Up Exhibition at Prole Drift
April 2 – April 4, 2015
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 4, 6–9pm
Artists:
Seattle: Paul Komada, Akiko Masker, Yuki Nakamura
New York: Kakeru Asai, Ko Irkt, Tokio Kuniyoshi
Tokyo: MAHO HIKINO, Saki Kitamura, Mayu Kuroda, Noriyo Yasunaga
Thursday, April 2, 6–8pm
Friday, April 3, 12–5pm
Saturday, April 4, 12–9pm
Reception Party: Saturday, April 4, 6–9pm
Prole Drift Gallery
523 S. Main St.
Seattle, WA 98104
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Kanji Installation
PARTY IN THE PARK
Friday, June 27, 2014
Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
I explored the idea of the simplicity of ideograms and the powerful meaning of Kanji character. The installation consists of over 150 porcelain tiles.
Kanji Installation, 2014
Porcelain, glazes
40 x 96 inches
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Fluid Destination, Art Beasties
9 CLINTON ST.
NEW YORK, NY 10002
(646) 863 – 7171
Opening reception Thursday March 20th, 7pm – late.
Open 18th March to 22nd March upon appointment, contact artbeasties@gmail.com
Yuki Nakamura and Robert Campbell, Saki Kitamura, Ko IRKT, Tokio Kuniyoshi and Maho Hikino. Curated by Sessa Englund.
Art Beasties welcomes you to join us at Culture Fix for our second show, Fluid Destination. The effects of a global world and a global identity are prevalent in our daily lives; we live half of it online, and many of us spend the other half in flux between two countries or two cultures. In order to establish ourselves as members of a global community we must constantly flow and change; deciding whether to take the shape of our surroundings like water in a vase, or whether to extend our identity to contain new ideas of who we are and our live, constantly leaving traces of ourselves as we travel, and leaving things behind to discover new experiences. For this show we ask our participating artists to meditate on the fluidity of their work and their experiences, bringing forth a personal and inspired expression of the implications of living globally.
Art Beasties seeks to broaden and deepen the understanding of contemporary Japanese art, promoting individuality and diversity of aesthetics separate from dominant exported Japanese pop-culture. We offer the audience a view into the works of artists whose practice centers on the individual and academic exploration of self-identity; artists brought together by a common goal of expanding the context of what it means to be a Japanese Artist in a global world. Through hosting pop-up shows around the city and curating an online registrar of Japanese artists, Art Beasties Collective seeks to create alternative roads for audiences, artists and critics to discover and share in critical discussion about Japanese contemporary art.
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INTRODUCTIONS, ART BEASTIES
Japanese artist collective, first group exhibition in NYC
29th – 31st. January 2014 OPENING PARTY: Thursday 30th, January / 7pm – 10pm
We are proud to present Art Beasties’ first collective exhibition tiled Introductions, showcasing works by Yuki Nakamura, Saki Kitamura, Ko IRKT, Tokio Kuniyoshi, and Maho Hikino.
Art Beasties seeks to broaden and deepen the understanding of contemporary Japanese art to international audience, promoting individuality and diversity of esthetics away from the influence of dominant mainstream Japanese pop culture. With Introductions we offer you a first glimpse into the works of artists who’s practice centers on the individual and academic exploration of self identity; artists brought together by a common goal of expanding the context of what it means to be a Japanese Artist. Through hosting pop-up show around the city and curating an online registrar of Japanese artists Art Beasties seeks to create alternative roads for audience, artists and critics to discover and share in critical discussion about Japanese contemporary art. Please joint us for the first of many Art Beasties shows, opening Jan 30th 2014 at Brooklyn Fire Proof.
Exhibiting artists Yuki, Saki, Ko, Tokio, and Maho, curated by Sessa Englund.
Brooklyn Fire Proof
119 Ingraham street Brooklyn
OPENING PARTY: 30th at 7pm – 10pm
Gallery Open:
29th 4PM-10PM
30th 9AM-10PM
31st 9AM-3PM
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Opening Reception:
Kūkai
an installation by Robert Campbell and Yuki Nakamura
Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound
Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 5–7pm
Review by Rosemary Ponnekanti published by The Tacoma News Tribune:
Preview video:
Kūkai is a new collaboration between digital media artist Robert Campbell and ceramic sculptor Yuki Nakamura.
Kūkai is an extension and elaboration of some of the revisited experimentations and ideas generated during their six-month residency in 2006 and an installation at SOIL Gallery in Seattle in 2012. Campbell and Nakamura developed ideas of experimental video projection with cast sculptures exploring Mylar, which creates afterimages in a reflected underworld. Kūkai is a reference to an influential 8th-century Japanese Buddhist monk. During a long and intense meditation in a cave, he saw the flat horizon where sea and sky meet. He chose the name Kūkai for himself. Ku means Sky, Kai means Sea.
“We live directly across Puget Sound from one another- one on Vashon Island, the other in the Old Town district of Tacoma. Sea and sky are omnipresent in our daily imagery: as we watch the floating forms of ships, tankers, and drifting objects, we think of the sea that links the Pacific Northwest with Japan, and the parts and pieces of homes washed away during Japan’s recent tsunami which are now arriving on these shores. The forms that we are reactivating are based on traditional Japanese wood joinery: forms that create bonds that hold parts together. We are basing our approach to combining our respective art forms on the linkage between these general ideas.”
Their first collaborative project was for the 2006 New Works Laboratory, a program between 911 Media Arts Center and the Henry Art Gallery that pairs a visual artist working in traditional media with a digital media artist experimenting with new technologies to co-create and exhibit new and innovative works of art. They created Floating Plaster / City Motion, a multimedia installation comprised of video, audio and cast sculptures incorporating three synchronized video projections. The work integrated sculptural formal aesthetics with architectonic video projections of animated imagery culminating in the creation of an evocative and dynamic installation.
*This project is supported in part from Tacoma Artists Initiative Program.
January 22–March2, 2013
Kittredge Gallery
Kittredge Hall
N. 15th St. & N. Lawrence St. Tacoma
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, Noon – 5 p.m.
Closed during university holidays
Kittredge Hall
N. 15th St. & N. Lawrence St. Tacoma
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, Noon – 5 p.m.
Closed during university holidays
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Women take over: Northwest Asian Artists at SAM
Posted on 15 November 2012. Tags: 2012, Etsuko Ichikawa, Vol 31 No 47 | November 17 – November 23, Yuki Nakamura
By Deanna Duff
Northwest Asian Weekly
Yuki Nakamura’s “Illuminant Pink Arrow”Women have taken over the Seattle Art Museum. Not through protests or demonstrations, but with a different type of exciting, artistic occupation. SAM’s new exhibit, Elles: Women Artists from the Centre Pompidou, Paris, features a century’s worth of female artists representing work from Frida Kahlo to Cindy Sherman. In honor of the local art scene, a companion show, Elles: SAM Gallery, spotlights Northwest women artists.
Yuri Kinoshita’s “Moonshine” (above) and “Madoka” (below)“Some are very established and some are more emerging artists,” said Jody Bento, SAM Gallery’s manager. “There are 15 artists represented and we included many different viewpoints and definitions of what it means to be a Northwest artist.”
Located a few blocks from the downtown museum, SAM Gallery’s mission is to provide a venue for regional artists to display and sell their work. The gallery’s Elles exhibit includes 50 pieces including photography, abstract paintings, three-dimensional work, ceramics, and more.
“Every artist has an uphill battle to get their work seen and to find an audience, but I think women still face unique issues. I don’t feel this exhibit is about settling a score with feminist-themed work. It’s a celebration of the women in this community,” said Bento.
The Northwest is also home to a vibrant group of Asian heritage artists. SAM’s founding collection was centered on Asian art and Bento believes it’s a natural evolution to spotlight the next generation. Seattle-based artists, such as Etsuko Ichikawa, Yuki Nakamura and Yuri Kinoshita, are included in the gallery show.
Etsuko Ichikawa’s “Trace 3211”“They bring an Asian aesthetic. I think in all three cases, the artists are concerned with beauty. There is a meditative quality — from the fire Etsuko applies to wet paper to the fine detail of the porcelain work by Yuki or the light filtered through woven paper by Yuri. It’s intellectual on some level. They’re not just going for a visual “Wow!” They want to create a feeling concerning beauty,” said Bento.
From art aficionados to casual admirers, the SAM Gallery show is a must see. It’s a rare opportunity to view a diverse survey of Northwest, female artists.
Etsuko Ichikawa
Etsuko Ichikawa was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, and works primarily as a glass artist. She came to Seattle in 1992 because of the dynamic glass arts community. She studied at Pilchuck Glass School and worked for Dale Chihuly.
“The Northwest has deep connections to Japan, Asia, and the Far East. I feel comfortable in Seattle. There is a strong Japanese American community and that encouraged me to stay and helped me survive the culture shock,” said Ichikawa.
While glass is Ichikawa’s primary medium, she also works with video, sound, fiber and creates both small- and large-scale installations. Three of her pieces are included in the SAM Gallery show.
A particularly interesting work visitors can view is a triptych piece conceived earlier this year during Ichikawa’s collaboration with the Calty Design Research/Toyota Design Studio in Newport Beach, Calif.
“The director challenged me to create a work inspired by the concept they were working on for a future car. The work was inspired by what I saw in their creative studios. If you really look at it, you can see some of the influences,” said Ichikawa.
Yuki Nakamura’s “Illuminant White Gold”Yuki Nakamura
Yuki Nakamura, born and raised in Japan, came to Seattle in 1995 to attend the University of Washington where she earned a Master of Fine Arts. Her chosen medium, ceramics, has expanded in recent years to include fashion design, printmaking, and multimedia projects.
“Like Japan, there are many little islands around the Pacific Northwest. There is a similar geography and that probably influences the Japanese community that’s been here for 100 years. It’s helpful as an artist,” said Nakamura.
In 2007, Nakamura was commissioned by Seattle City Light to develop a large-scale installation for their Municipal Tower office. She used hundreds of vintage, porcelain light bulbs and video projectors to create “Filament,” a thought-provoking look at light. The SAM Gallery show includes a smaller-scale version.
“It’s important to see museum shows with international artists and also gallery shows that focus on locals. It’s a different experience since this is a group showing (at SAM Gallery) with a variety of artists. It’s unique to have an overall feeling of what’s happening in the Northwest,” said Nakamura.
Yuri Kinoshita
A native of Kyoto, Japan, Yuri Kinoshita was an artist from a young age. As a child in her family’s kimono shop, she created a makeshift desk for drawing. As an adult, she fell in love with Seattle and it’s amazing views while visiting friends.
“In the second year, I understood more about the long Seattle winters, which gave me plenty of time to think. The fact that you don’t see the sun often is how the idea for my ‘Sunrise’ creations was born. I had always wanted to make creations that came from deep within and Seattle’s environment inspires my creativity,” said Kinoshita.
Kinoshita makes lighting pieces from natural materials such as linen paper, bamboo fiber, and Japanese silk textiles.
“I believe my light is not just an object of design nor a functional tool, but I want to make it beautiful like the sun and moon,” said Kinoshita.
Kinoshita’s 2007 “Moon Shine” woven light sculpture piece hangs from SAM Gallery’s ceiling. She was also inspired to create two new pieces, “Madoka” and “Tessen,” to complement the original. The pieces use Kimono textiles as well as bamboo and Japanese papers, which reflect her Kyoto roots.
“The power and influence of women in today’s world cannot be ignored,” said Kinoshita. “I believe the potential of female compassion are essential keys to solutions for the problems existing in the world. I am honored to be part of this historic exhibit.”(end)
Elles: SAM Gallery
Northwest Women Artists
October 25-December 1
Seattle Tower Building
1220 Third Avenue
Free and open to the public.
For hours and location, visit seattleartmuseum.org. Visitors should note, SAM Gallery hours differ from the downtown museum.
Deanna Duff can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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A Body Like an Ocean
After Japan’s Tsunami: Porcelain, Animation, Sound, and Mylar
Review by Jen Graves, The Stranger
January 17, 2012
“Ravishing” was the word I had to use the last time I experienced a digital animation rising and setting over a tiny ceramic city in a darkened gallery by the artists Robert Campbell and Yuki Nakamura. That was in 2006, and a new installation based on a similar structure remains beyond the need for or quite the reach of description, especially the way it rolls through time, waves of light patterns passing across faceted and reflecting surfaces in a dazzling stream of constant change.
But certain pieces of information open up new associations. The artists live across Puget Sound from each other, on facing rocks: Campbell on Vashon Island and Nakamura (who is originally from Japan) in Old Town Tacoma. Their mutual view is like an infinite mirrored regress. The artists have written that since the tsunami hit Japan, when they look out at the ships and detritus drifting between them, they can’t help but think about bits and pieces of people’s homes—which are, in fact, making their way toward the American West Coast.
While the artists’ 2006 collaboration,Floating Plaster/City Motion, was founded on hard chunks of land—Nakamura’s sculptures, on which Campbell’s animations appeared, were shaped after the footprints of the Île Saint-Louis and the Île de la Cité in Paris—their new installation has no such anchor. Everything is unmoored. It is called Kūkai: Sea and Sky.
Neon colors animated the sci-fi urbanism of Floating Plaster/City Motion, but Kūkai (a reference to an influential 8th- century Japanese Buddhist monk) is sparkling white, black, and shadow only. The “show” of the animations passing across the porcelain sculptures is multiplied in three other flat surfaces: the pedestal, covered in Mylar, which creates a reflected underworld, and full-height walls built at both ends of the pedestal, where watery afterimages of the Mylar reflections jump and float. A soundtrack adds still another shifting dimension.
Naturally, there’s a memorial quality to Kūkai. It is at least the second wavelike installation incorporating video and sculpture—bringing together the tangible and intangible—by a Seattle artist about the tsunami. The first was I’m Sorry. Thank You. I Love You. by Rumi Koshino, also a native of Japan, with a video of the artist on the Washington Coast facing west, looking out at the ocean as the wind whipped her hair over her face, a large, ominous wave of dark linoleum flooring hanging from the ceiling behind the video screen. Koshino’s body was trapped in a system of repetitive motion that was both frightening and calming. InKūkai, the only bodies are the porcelain sculptures, small, refined monuments that are not monoliths but appear to be parts joined together at tight, neat seams—holding fast while their reflections shiver and mutate. 