We had an interview with Kristine Marx who is from New York, USA.
Why did you choose Japan to do your project?
I visited Japan twice (Tokyo, Kyoto) and am interested in Japanese culture and tradition.
Would there have been any differences doing the project in Tokyo and Kyoto than in Itoshima?
I think here in Itoshima time passes slowly (except Hiro is working hard!!) and So I am able to focus and concentrate on my project.
I can also go running, or bike riding and also enjoy going to hot spring.
There are many Japanese interiors in my works.
I am interested in ukiyo-e and it effects my work a lot.
For Example, the line of windows, the lady looking down the floor…
also I used the Japanese landscapes and trees from ukiyo-e.
it also looks European style. What did you draw from?
Another influence is film from mid 20th century. The buildings and urban spaces were drawn in traditional Western perspective.
Why i choose the period is it is right after the war so it has an impersonal, colder attitude. But I am also still figuring it out.
I like the idea of using films because it is referencing films. My recent work is in video and I like the idea of projecting an image. In these paintings, I can see through the images by layering.
I also focused on borders in my work. It is inspiring to work in the space where I am staying in Itoshima because the tatami, sliding doors and furniture is inspiring.
I am playing around with the borders in my paintings. Some of them are opaque and some of them the image—figure or landscape– overlaps, which I have also observed in Japanese art.
A kimono was hanging on the wall which was presented by local farmer. I found it inspiring to be in my studio.
Of course ukiyo-e deals with landscape differently than the Western tradition and I was interested in these diverse ways of image-making. I layered Western perspectival space over the atmospheric Japanese landscapes.
I am very interested in taking images from different time periods and putting them together to build-up a new image.
The deep perspective of the European tradition and flat imagery of the Japanese tradition represent opposing pictorial spaces. I wanted to see what would happen is I put them together in one paitning.
The work I made at the residency is an experimental stage for me of how to put together and layer with multiple images in same space, which is challenging.
Painting on paper is very quick, so it was useful for experimenting at the residency.
The color I used was drawn from 1950~60s American interior color palette.
It is also related to pop.
There are only 5 colors of paints here, do you make the colors by using those?
Yes, I made many colors from these paints.
Great!! Great!! I thought you use lots of color paints!!
Are you going to continue this experimental work in New York?
Yes. The work I did at Itoshima is the beginning of future work. I would like to pull them out and develop these ideas more after my trip.