Monthly Archives: January 2015

Announcing Naomi Soh’s exhibition “Project Nu”

We are happy to announce an exhibition by Naomi Soh, in which she will show work she did during her residence at Studio Kura.

Naomi is a digital illustrator hailing from the small sunny island of Singapore.
For her, drawing was what many would have called a hobby. Ever since picking up the pencil at 4, the passion and desire to create worlds and characters that had never existed was planted and grew over time. Over the years, that hobby found it’s way onto a main stage, and that’s how she started her artistic journey over a year ago when she made the decision to study Digital Design and Illustration at 3dsense Media School in Singapore. It was there that she was selected for the 3dsense-Kura Artistic Residency Award.

Project Nu. The term “Nu” is a play on the word “New”.

Through Project Nu, I wanted to show the transformation as one breaks away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Having grown up in the extremely busy city of Singapore, I always found it difficult to take a break and just enjoy the city for what it is. That frustration and feeling is often mirrored in my works and also in the way I work.

When I arrived in Itoshima, I was in awe at the vastness and openness of the nature surrounding me.
Everything seemed to move slower; everything seemed so much simpler and I felt a great sense of freedom.
That is the emotion I want to share through these few pieces. The sense of freedom and simplicity; the sense of changing into someone “Nu”.

We would be very happy to meet you at the opening party on Saturday, starting at 6pm!
It will take place at ITOAGURI Cafe.

Date: 31st January(Sat) – 8th February(Sun)
Place:Itoaguri Cafe
Itoshima City, Kawatsuki 882

*Opening Party will be held 31st January 6pm.
Fee:1,000JYP

Organized by: Studio Kura
Contact: info@studiokura.com

Announcing Tim van der Meer’s exhibition Portals

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We are happy to announce an exhibition by Tim van der Meer, in which she will show work she did during his residence at Studio Kura.

Tim van der Meer is a Dutch visual artist based in Utrecht. She works in the form of installations, movies and performances. She was given the Expeditie Award in 2008, and her work has been shown throughout Europe since 2010. Here are some words from Tim herself.

The relationship between humans and nature, the detachment between us and our origins, are the basis for my research and work. Through the use of various mediums, time-based video and performance I want to transport the viewer to a world of more primary needs and emotions to restore this contact.
My work plays on the primal instinct of the viewer. Ideas of warmth, shelter and safety are in stark contrast with a fear of the dark and the unknown.
During my stay in Japan, I became fascinated by the image of the volcano. Both as a door to another world as well as a symbol of repressed emotions and desires. I experience this country as a place where the boundaries between different worlds and realities are thin and where much stirs beneath the surface. These portals are part of the landscape, but also in the culture in the form of the torii and shōji.
During the exhibition I will show an installation and drawings inspired by this idea of traveling between worlds through passages in everyday life.

We would be very happy to meet you at the closing party on Saturday, starting at 3 pm!

Portals
Tim van der Meer
Date: January 16 to 17, 11:00 to 19:00, free entrance
* We will hold a closing party on Saturday the 17th, starting at 15:00

Organized by: Studio Kura
Place: Studio Kura
Contact: info@studiokura.com

How to Get Rid of Your Garbage When in Studio Kura

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Hi! This is Ale, just back from Spain and writing on a sunny January afternoon.

Today it’s all about garbage disposal. I hope you find it fun to know how easy it will be to get rid of your garbage when in residence here.

These are our government-issued burnable garbage disposal bags. Japan cares a lot about recycling, and we’re not allowed to drop our garbage in just any bag, or just at any time or place. There are rules!

First, almost anything but broken things (ir. glasses or electronics) and recyclable cans or bottles (that have been properly cleaned) can be thought of as burnable garbage. An eaten up yoghourt, a dirty plastic bag, and old leftovers are all burnable, although you might not want to know how burning some of these would smell.
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Announcing Lauren Britton’s Exhibition “Physical Sun”

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We are happy to announce an exhibition by Lauren Britton, in which she will show work she did during her residence at Studio Kura.

Lauren Britton is a painter who is currently based in New Haven, CT. Lauren makes paintings and drawings that use celebration as a way to make a non-aggressive statement about a queer experience in a larger community. Lauren is ½ of the curatorial team for Improvised Showboat with Zachary Keeting. Improvised Showboat is a series of roving one night, studio based exhibitions. Lauren’s recent exhibitions include To Crown the Rainbow at Southern Connecticut State University, Scrape, Cut, Smear at Weeknights Gallery, An Army of Lovers at the Echo Art Fair, and Chronicle at Scott Charmin Gallery.

Lauren Britton
Exhibition “Physical Sun”.

Celebration is central to my work. In the drawings presented in Physical Sun, I
have anchored the rainbow to the sun. I think of the rainbow as a signifier of queerness and a symbol of the energy that is apparent to me in the queer community I am a part of in the United States. The sun is a cross-cultural symbol of energy and power. Depicted in many art historical and cultural traditions in the work The Sun by Edvard Munch is revered as are Japanese traditions like the Order of the Rising Sun and the nick name of Japan “The Land of the Rising Sun”. By uniting the rainbow and the sun in these drawings I am allowing my work to call for energy and attention to be brought to a queer experience.

Through celebrating queerness in my work I am making a non-aggressive statement and asserting a queer presence in a larger community. Instead of being upset about the disadvantaged cultural place of queer people, I am celebrating the difference of our bodies and our experiences with my work.

We would be very happy to meet you at the opening party on Saturday!

Physical Sun
Lauren Britton
Date: January 10 to 11, 11:00 to 19:00, free entrance
* We will hold an opening party on Saturday the 10th, starting at 15:00

Organized by: Studio Kura
Place: Studio Kura
Contact: info@studiokura.com