Author Archives: Katsura Ishikawa

Exhibition View on March 23-24 2019 (Luo, Emily, Rody, Maria and Clio)

Please enjoy exhibitions by our five residence artists, thank you so much for all visitors who came to attend Artist Talk and visited to see the shows!

At Studio 1:

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Luo Jiang-jiang (China)
“The Obstacle / 障害”
Exhibition style: Mixed media
A Chinese contemporary visual artist, Luo got the inspiration of this exhibition from observations concerning puddles of water while walking around Fukuoka in this changeable weather season. The puddle can an “obstacle” for modern life in the city, he explores the relationship and connections between human beings, nature, life and tool through his installation work.

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Emily Beasy (Australia)
“I am a Cat”
Exhibition style: Illustration
I am a Cat features a collection of illustrations to Soseki Natsume’s classic piece of literature, rendered by Australian artist and illustrator Emily Beasy. Portrayed in a colourful mix of styles both of Japanese and Western influence, these works convey the diverse feelings, observations and reflections of a self-aware feline and his curious human subjects.

At Studio 2:

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Maria Schilder (Netherlands)
“The Edge”
Exhibition style: Drawing
Participating from Amsterdam, Maria is specialized in sculpture and object making. At this exhibition, she challenged to work on drawings of stones clinging onto the earth / slipping down, in Itoshima, with the theme of her ongoing project The Edge.

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Rody Luton (Netherlands/UK)
“Porphyra”
Exhibition style: Watercolour & graphite on paper
A British/New Zealand visual artist based in Amsterdam, Rody explored her paintings inspired by the floating Nori farming view in Yanagawa. The story of Nori is a story of transmutation, of crossing boundaries and borders, of shifting across sea and land, wet and dry, time and space, changing colour and form. It connects to her interest in exploring the transitory zones between different environments, surfaces and ecologies.

At Studio 2 and House 2:

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Clio Berta (United States)
“ouroboros”
Exhibition style: illustrated, written, projected & sewn works
An American performance artist, composer and multimedia event producer, Clio has been residing Itoshima for nearly 3 months, gaining spiritual and nature based life style. Focusing on magic and spirits, she exhibited variety of works; projected video combining experimental musical performance and stop animation, large paper installation on Moon, written work, hand made sew works and illustration of Tarot cards.

Announcing Emily Beasy’s Exhibition “I am a Cat”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition I am a Cat by Emily Beasy on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Emily Beasy is an illustrator/exhibiting artist from Melbourne, Australia. She completed a Bachelor of Illustration at Melbourne Polytechnic in 2015, and has studied fine art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Emily’s practice takes focus on the gentle and the uncanny. With a strong interest in ethology, her work explores themes of animal behaviour and intelligence, the similarities and differences between our species and others, and strong-but-subtle feminist expression.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

I am a Cat features a collection of illustrations to Soseki Natsume’s classic piece of literature, rendered by Australian artist and illustrator Emily Beasy. Portrayed in a colourful mix of styles both of Japanese and Western influence, these works convey the diverse feelings, observations and reflections of a self-aware feline and his curious human subjects.

Emily Beasy “I am a Cat”
Exhibition style: Illustration

Date: March 23 (Saturday) & 24 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:30.
* We will hold an artist talk on 23rd (Sat), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Ric Dragon’s Exhibition “Spring for Shikō”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Spring for Shikō by Ric Dragon on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Ric Dragon is a painter from New York, currently living in Bogotá, Colombia, where he is the director of ArteSumapaz.

He studied with Nicholas Marsicano at SUNY Purchase, and James McDermid at Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. He was formerly an instructor of figure drawing and lithography at the Woodstock School of Art. His work has been featured in various solo and group shows.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

It’s with incredible humility that I pick up brush and ink in Japan – after all, here, it is an art form of the highest order, as well as the daily lives of even school children. And yet, I continue to be inspired by the medium, as well as countless artists. In fact, throughout the making of this piece, I was fondly remembering Munakata’s masterwork, the Ten Disciples.

Ric Dragon “Spring for Shikō”
Exhibition style: Mixed media; ink drawing/collage

Announcing Luo Jiang-jiang’s Exhibition “The Obstacle / 障害”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition The Obstacle / 障害 by Luo Jiang-jiang on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Luo, Jiang-Jiang is a Chinese contemporary visual artist, and he has been now lives and works in Shanghai, China since October 2018.
He recently completed his master degree in fine art studio at University of Barcelona.

He is interested to explore the modes of our understanding and cognition towards the world through the expression of the sense of spatial forms. I also use my works to discover the state of being within the depths of our mind with the help of the diversity of visual language, not especially limited to the use of fixed expressions.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

My exhibition will consist of various media. This includes photography, painting and objects (example: cups and plates filled with water). The photography and painting works will be exhibited on the wall, and the objects on the floor. The will constitute a space interconnected between themselves, an organic world.

Luo Jiang-jiang “The Obstacle / 障害”
Exhibition style: Mixed media

Announcing Oliver Jerrold’s Exhibition “Energy series”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Energy series by Oliver Jerrold on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Oliver Jerrold is a multi disciplinary artist, based in Colchester, UK. currently travelling the world gathering inspiration for upcoming works.

With a degree in fine art, two independent exhibitions and two group shows since 2017 and years of experience from previous jobs, Oliver is specializing in painting, using found objects and alternative methods of mark-making. His large works intend to induce a numinous appreciation from the viewer, using new and classical skills.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

This new series of works is an exploration of the numinous quality of ancient sites with historical spiritual significance, of varying levels. In this I am reaching out to feel the energy being given, or going to these sites, superimposing this as a way of unmasking the arcane life of the subject.

Oliver Jerrold “Energy series”
Exhibition style: Painting

Announcing Yuming Zhu’s Exhibition “New Life”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition New Life by Yuming Zhu on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Yuming Zhu describes his style as “Transism” — Lyrical Impression and Idealistic Expression, through which he portrays the beauty of our spiritual and earthly world by creation a language of emotional expression. He blends the styles of the East and West into his oil, pastel and Sumi paintings. Capturing the light and darkness of the European masters while combining the familiar and textured brush strokes found in Sumi watercolors, Yuming likes to leave white spaces as background painting and emphasis on Spiritual Charming in his art.

He held several solo and group exhibitions in California and Seattle area. He also teaches in community colleges and is an active member in several artists’ associations in the area.
He was invited to demo Sumi painting for the tape “Five Thoughts of Asian Art” by Seattle Art Museum and artist for the EMMA nominated movie Series: The Man In The High Castle.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

This show I will showcase sketches, Plein Air paintings on accordion screen books and small shikishi boards. Capturing the beauty of traditional Japanese buildings, sacred sites, people in kimono and particularly the dramatic weather changing scenes of Itoshima, then I creates and translate my impressions and memories into large scale of Sumi paintings. IT is a trans-ism of small to large, live drawing to studio painting.

Yuming Zhu “New Life”
Exhibition style: Sumi-e, installation art with sketch books

Announcing Clio Berta’s Exhibition “ouroboros”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition ouroboros by Clio Berta on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Clio Berta is a performance artist, composer and multimedia event producer with roots in Camden, Maine and Tucson, Arizona. Her multi-dimensional work aims to illuminate the space between fabrication and reality, breathing life into a third, more elusive realm. By submerging the viewer in a fabricated reality, she aims to temporarily shift their interpretation of reality itself.

Clio has a BFA in Interrelated Media from Mass College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts. She has worked as an arts educator and a film and commercial composer. Her work has been shown and performed at Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland, Maine, Mass College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts, the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, and Hotel Congress in Tucson, Arizona.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

divine lightness: the whole of the world exists because of the light that illuminates it
divine darkness: disassemble the light that makes up the material & you will catch a glimpse of the nothingness that exists behind it

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Clio Berta “ouroboros”
Exhibition style: illustrated, written, projected & sewn works

Announcing Pamela Gcia’s Exhibition “Deeply Sinking Down”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Deeply Sinking Down by Pamela Gcia on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Pamela Gcía is a multidisciplinary artist based in Monterrey, México.
She holds a Bachelor in Fine Arts at the Gate of Creation /CRGS from University of Monterrey, where she focused on printmaking, drawing and painting.
Her work has been shown at collective and solo shows in art spaces and galleries around Monterrey.

Pamela’s work explores daily habits based on our everyday life, redefining gestures that even thought are repetitive, each one has its specific spacetime in which the peculiarities and details have the possibility to create new narratives.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

Deeply Sinking down is an exploration of slowly letting things pass by, sinking even deeper down into the surroundings but at the same time allowing your conscious mind to wander.
This series of drawings are part of a remainder to breath evenly and deeply, breathing deeper and deeper still to be present.
Each one of them has its own story to tell, pieces and bits that carry the peacefulness that Itoshima spreads.

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Pamela Gcia “Deeply Sinking Down”
Exhibition style: Visual Arts / Drawings

Announcing Rody Luton’s Exhibition “Porphyra”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Porphyra by Rody Luton on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Rody Luton is a British/New Zealand visual artist based in Amsterdam. She was born in England, grew up in New Zealand, and has also lived in Italy, France and the United States. She was trained at Bath Academy of Art (UK) and L’Ecole National d’Art Decoratif (Aubusson, France), and has a BA in Anthropology (University of Sussex, UK). She has exhibited in England, New Zealand, France, Italy, Sweden, the U.S., and most frequently in the Netherlands.

Her diverse work includes paintings, mixed media and photography. Her visual themes are inspired by nature and organic elements, as well as by ethnographic sources. “I like to explore how forms of nature, cultural patterns and human constructs can inhabit the same visual spaces.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

Saline/Fresh
Sea/Land
Wet/Dry
Growth/Permanence
Flow/Linearity
Organic/Human-made
Nature/Culture

Porphyra
For me the story of nori is a story of transmutation, of crossing boundaries and borders, of shifting across sea and land, wet and dry, time and space, changing colour and form. In transforming live algae into inanimate nori sheets, we transgress from the natural into the cultivated. It connects to my interest in exploring the transitory zones between different environments, surfaces and ecologies.

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Rody Luton “Porphyra”
Exhibition style: Watercolour & graphite on paper

Announcing Maria Schilder’s Exhibition “The Edge”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition The Edge by Maria Schilder on March 23(Sat) & 24(Sun) , as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Maria Schilder is an artist specialised in sculptures and objects, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She graduated from Amsterdam University of Arts.
She has exhibited most frequently in the Netherlands but also in England, France, Estland and two times in Japan. She visited Japan twice before. She used those occasions to learn more about Japanese culture and art, traditional as well as modern.

The sculptures she creates, are a result of experimenting with materials and shapes. Her aim is to express feeling and experience in a concentrated way. She is always looking for materials which can express this feelings and experience as specific as possible. She tries to suggest softness, sensuality and intimacy in her works.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

My Rock clings onto the earth
Or will it slip down eventually?

Maria Schilder “The Edge”
Exhibition style: Drawing