Author Archives: Katsura Ishikawa

Announcing Ivy Koh’s Exhibition “The Language of plants 植物の言葉”

We are pleased to announce an exhibition The Language of plants 植物の言葉 by Ivy Koh on January 26 (Sat) & 27 (Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Ivy Koh is a Motion Graphics Designer from the sunny little island, Singapore.
She recently graduated with a Diploma in Animation (Motion Graphics) from 3DSense Media School. She enjoys doing both traditional and digital art. Her interest began in Secondary school, where she studied Art as one of her main subjects. Her works are passion-driven and enjoy experimenting with her digital designs, always learning and developing art with the use of technology.

During my stay in Itoshima, I’m amazed that there are a lot of different flowers blooming despite during Winter time.
I was inspired by the natural beauty of Itoshima and would like to combine the plants and houses in my work.

Ivy Koh “The Language of plants 植物の言葉”
Exhibition style: Motion Graphics
Exhibition venue:
Date: January 26 (Saturday) & 27 (Sunday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 26th (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Jun You Ang’s Exhibition “Life in Itoshima 糸島での生活”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Life in Itoshima 糸島での生活 by Jun You Ang on January 26 (Sat) & 27 (Sun) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Jun You Ang is a Motion Graphics Designer from Singapore. He recently graduated from 3dsense Media School in November 2018 with a Diploma in Animation (Motion Design). Before that, he had also studied at Republic Polytechnic in 2014 with a Diploma in Design for Interactivity, in which they are now known as Design for User Experience.

During my stay here at Itoshima, Studio Kura, I have explored and seen the areas and experiences their lifestyle. I am inspired by nature and culture here and truly enjoy the experience that I have and wish to show the places, culture, and lifestyle of Itoshima in my work.

Jun You Ang “Life in Itoshima 糸島での生活”
Exhibition style: Motion Graphics
Exhibition venue:
Date: January 26 (Saturday) & 27 (Sunday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 26th (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Elsa Kwan’s Exhibition “Friends ともだち”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Friends ともだち by Elsa Kwan on January 26 (Sat) & 27 (Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Elsa Kwan is a motion graphics designer based in Singapore. She recently graduated from 3DSense Media School in November 2018 with a Diploma in Animation, with a specialisation in
Motion Design. She earlier graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts (Second Class Honours) in Animation Art. Elsa also worked as a Marketing Graphics Designer for a Japanese F&B organisation for two years.

Her creative work focuses on a range of 2D and 3D animation, and her particular interest is in character design and animation, cel animation, illustration as well as digital collage.

During my stay at Studio Kura, I enjoyed the time spent with my friends and have also made new friends. I would like to collect my memories and create character animations of the people I have been inspired by in Itoshima. I hope to show the warmth and friendly mood of the people here even in this cold winter.

Elsa Kwan “Friends ともだち”
Exhibition style: Motion Graphics
Exhibition venue:
Date: January 26 (Saturday) & 27 (Sunday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 26th (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Aniruddha Khanwelkar’s Exhibition “Tales from Far Lands”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Tales from Far Lands by Aniruddha Khanwelkar on January 26 (Sat) & 27 (Sun) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Aniruddha Khanwelkar is an Illustrator and Graphic Designer based in India. He recently graduated from 3D Sense Media School, Singapore specializing in Concept Design and Illustrations in 2018.

His practices range from various digital and traditional tools to explore different ways to create compelling imagery. He is still exploring his style and field of work and plans to experiment his illustrative skills in various fields.

Visual development project for a graphic novel. This series of images is an imaginative take on the beautiful countryside of Fukuoka, through the eyes of a young artist who has a lot to grow. The artist hopes to capture the essence of the relaxed yet active lifestyle combined with several of the exotic locations and landmarks. Although one month isn’t enough to explore it all, hopefully, it can serve as a starting point to indulge in the Japanese culture and bring it forth in a fantastical manner.

Aniruddha Khanwelkar “Tales from Far Lands”
Exhibition style: Concept Design and Illustration
Exhibition venue: Studio 1
Date: January 26 (Saturday) & 27 (Sunday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 26th (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Ginnie Hsu’s Exhibition “The Mundane Magic 平凡の魔法”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition “The Mundane Magic 平凡の魔法 by Ginnie Hsu on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Ginnie Hsu is a Multi-media Designer, and Educator, an Illustrator and a Maker living in Starkville, Mississippi, United States. Her work is often inspired by everyday life, nature, human living, and well-being. She is passionate about helping people. She believes that well-designed digital experiences and technology can improve the quality of human living, and her goal is to design, make, and create things that have an impact on society. Having this personal mission statement in mind, her design and research have been focusing on human-centered design for the greater good.

Ginnie Hsu presents a collection of multimedia artworks focused on the townspeople’s daily life in Itoshima.

Ginnie Hsu “The Mundane Magic 平凡の魔法”
Exhibition style: Multi-Media
Exhibition venue: Stdio 1
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Jessica Auer and Zuhaitz Akizu’s Exhibition “Big fish like a hill”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Big fish like a hill by Jessica Auer and Zuhaitz Akizu on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of their activity during their stay at Studio Kura.

Jessica Auer is a visual artist and photography professor from Montreal, Canada. Her work is broadly concerned with the study of landscapes as cultural sites, focusing on themes that connect history, place, journey and cultural experience.

Zuhaitz Akizu is an artist from the Basque Country who lives and works in Iceland. With backgrounds in history, archeology and collecting, he is a self-taught photographer who works primarily with historical methods of image making.

During our residency at Studio Kura, we are examining representations of whales in Japanese art. Through this research we would like to learn about Japan’s spritual relationship with whales, particularly in relation to their whaling culture. Our explorations unfold in both the studio and in the field, where we create new artworks that speak to the relationship between people and whales.

Jessica Auer and Zuhaitz Akizu “Big fish like a hill”
Exhibition style: Visual Art
Exhibition venue: Studio 2
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Khor Ke Xin’s Exhibition “My Simple Life 私のシンプルライフ”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition My Simple Life by Khor Ke Xin on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Khor Ke Xin is an aspiring self-taught artist based in Singapore. Her passion for drawing began as a child, growing up in the rustling fields and serene waters around Kranji. The silhouettes of nature surrounding her sparked an inner fire to turn her experiences into art.

Ke Xin will be sharing her story of living in Itoshima through her illustrations. Her work uncovers sensory experiences through the likes of struggles with household chores and daily adventures. She hopes that her exhibition can inspire people to explore different paths to success – as simple as being happy with living in the mundane.

Khor Ke Xin “My Simple Life 私のシンプルライフ”
Exhibition style: Drawing, Illustration
Exhibition venue: Studio 1
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Sanne van de Goor’s Exhibition “Folding Thoughts”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Folding Thoughts by Sanne van de Goor on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Sanne van de Goor is a graphic designer based in Amsterdam. Her work starts with a fascination for the underlying rules that create a structure and the potentiality to generate an unpredictable outcome from a rule-based system. Her autonomous visual projects, commissioned assignments, and educational work embody a tension between precision and randomness, chaos and control. Her art projects and workshops for children, embraces the unpredictability that can emerge through rule-based play, while her pattern designs concentrate on single lines or forms that take shape through repetition.

For Folding Thoughts, I asked residents of Itoshima to fold a pattern piece of traditional Japanese paper clothing (kamiko) in such a way that it would fit into an octagon-shaped vessel that I had given them. Carbon paper traced their movements—creating an imprint of each action. Displayed together, the variations in folding techniques and different approaches to the exercise created a communal trace, a pattern of thoughts.

Sanne van de Goor “Folding Thoughts”
Exhibition style: Installation
Exhibition venue: Studio 1*
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Kyle Bates’s Exhibition “Second Self”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Second Self by Kyle Bates on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Kyle Bates is a Pacific Northwest based musician, audio visual artist, and writer. He actively creates and performs in sister projects Drowse and Floating Room that have produced a range of work for The Flenser, The Native Sound, Good Cheer Records, Glowing Window Recordings, Apneic Void and Television. His work has been featured by outlets such as NPR, Vice, and Spin. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music and English at Portland State University in 2015.

Kyle Bates presents a new audiovisual work, Second Self, that examines disconnection from and engagement with the physical world through a bipolar lens. The video stems from the practices of internal mapping and reading the self as text; the audio dips heavily into a musical uncanny valley. The majority of the work was completed during an artist residency at Studio Kura in Itoshima, Japan–a beautiful setting for exploring the relationship between the physical and internal.

Kyle Bates “Second Self”
Exhibition style: Audiovisual installation
Exhibition venue: Studio Kura Gallery
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Zhongsheng Gu’s Exhibition “冬至 Winter Solstice”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition 冬至 Winter Solstice by Zhongsheng Gu on December 22 (Sat) to 24 (Mon) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Zhongsheng Gu is a Photographer and Visual artist. He grew up in Yanji, a small town on the border of China and North Korea. He has been living and working in New York since 2013, he has taken photography as his true native tongue. His work is focused on trying to explore and expand the possibilities of photography as a method of communication. So that this visual language of him, can be more nuanced, more meaningful, more lyrical.
The focus of his work goes beyond trying to capture something visually but instead he wants to capture something invisible. Perhaps something only he can see, or perhaps something that occurs in our memories.

The Winter Solstice will occur on December 22nd, which is the same day the exhibition opens. This is a one of the most important festivals in East Asia.
Winter Solstice can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this day, there will be more daylight hours and that will result in an increase of positive energy flowing in.
This is my hope for myself and what I have seen and what I have experienced here.

Zhongsheng Gu “冬至 Winter Solstice”
Exhibition style: Photography
Exhibition venue: Studio 2
Date: December 22 (Saturday) to 24 (Monday), 11:00 to 17:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 22nd (Sat), starting at 15:30.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.