Author Archives: Katsura Ishikawa

Announcing Linda Vigdorcika’s Exhibition “Expressed by having been tied together in a knot”

We are pleased to announce an exhibition Expressed by having been tied together in a knot by Linda Vigdorcika on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Linda Vigdorcika is a visual artist based in Riga, Latvia. She completed her masters degree in fine arts at Chelsea College of Arts in London and is actively participating in projects both, in Riga and abroad, most recently exhibiting at GARGE Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, taking part in Nordic Environmental Symposium in Helsinki and participating in La Nuit des Idées in Paris.

Knots as a symbol of eternity and love are ancient concepts found in traditions East and West, but their appearance in different customs across cultures is strangely ambiguous. They are potent of different feelings and emotions, able to convey relationships and statuses and marking down various stories, as well as serving simply as a means of joining two objects together. Through looking at how knots are formed, a certain, almost linguistic system can be uncovered that can be used as a tool for self expression and mediation. This installation encourages the viewer to reflect on what are the feeling and emotions knotted together in their own bodies.

Linda Vigdorcika “Expressed by having been tied together in a knot”
Exhibition style: installation
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Gabriel Echaveste’s Exhibition “In Her Small Hours”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition In Her Small Hours by Gabriel Echaveste on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Gabriel Echaveste is an artist based in California, USA. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at Art Center College of Design and his Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. His work has been shown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York, NY.

His work explores the female psyche between the hours of midnight to sunrise. The artist poses contemporary feminine clothing as a substitute for the psyche during this time. His work is focused around these hours, when the mind is free to conspire fantasies and harmful wishes upon others for personal gain.

Gabriel Echaveste “In Her Small Hours”
Exhibition style: Mixed Media: Painting & Drawing
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Sue Anne Rische’s Exhibition “Fan Club”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Fan Club by Sue Anne Rische on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Sue Anne Rische knew from a very early age that she wanted to be an artist. She attended Texas Tech University and the University of Washington, holds a bachelors degree and masters degree in fine art, and currently teaches college level art in Texas. She considers herself both a multi-media artist and a process artist, first visualizing an idea and then assembling the needed materials to create the work.

Two years ago I learned how to make uchiwa from a farmer in Onishi in Gunma Prefecture. Because my work focuses on privacy I chose the fan for its ability to hide your face from people and cameras. In this series I am simply enjoying the process of making and how it focuses and relaxes me. I am also delighting in the manipulation of traditional uchiwa into new and experimental forms. This includes adding modern technology such as LED lights and retro-reflective tape which alters the exposure of a photograph and ruins it for the person who took it without your permission.

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Sue Anne Rische “Fan Club”
Exhibition style: Uchiwa
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Evelyn Yee’s Exhibition “Impressions”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Impressions by Evelyn Yee on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Evelyn Yee paints in watercolour and gouache in Melbourne, Australia. She completed an Honours degree in Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne – Victorian College of the Arts, majoring in Ceramics. The early years of her art practice was focused on sculptures and art installation using a variety of materials. When she started to paint with watercolour, it was a revelation – she fell in love with the medium and has kept painting ever since.

Evelyn feels that her 2 months stay in Itoshima is passing quickly. She feels fortunate to be able to experience the culture and richness of this place. The vast open spaces and beautiful scenery inspires her, and she captures the beauty she sees and enjoys through her watercolour works and sketches.

Evelyn Yee “Impressions”
Exhibition style: Watercolour
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Nathan Phillips’s Music Performance “Music From an Orange Suit”

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We are pleased to announce music performances Music From an Orange Suit by Nathan Phillips on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Nathan Phillips is an Ohio native. His mother sang in operas and musicals, while her father, a 12-tone composer taught music in Cincinnati, before she moved to Mansfield, where Nathan grew up playing piano. In addition to his solo keyboard and vocal work, Nathan has supported bands like Julianna Barwick, Qasim Naqvi, and, as a member of Youngstown’s The Building, The War On Drugs.

Nathan Phillips will perform music on a bicycle, from an orange suit. The music was written while in motion, riding through Itoshima’s rice fields. Half of the music was randomly generated from a playlist, while listening through headphones, and the other half was created by singing along, with improvised melodies and lyrics. In preparation for Fukuoka’s rainy season, this music will be performed from an orange suit, rain or shine.

Nathan Phillips “Music From an Orange Suit”
Music performance
Date: July 25 (Thursday) 16:30-, 27 (Saturday)16;00-.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Ema Gaspar and Pedro Brito’s Exhibition “Recordings”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Recordings by Ema Gaspar and Pedro Brito on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of their activity during their stay at Studio Kura.

Ema Gaspar is a visual artist based in Almada, Portugal. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at ESAD Caldas da Rainha and a Post-graduation in Illustration and Digital Animation in ESAD Matosinhos. In her work she mainly uses color pencils and graphite. She overlays different plans of action in the same image to explore themes that come from her most personal emotions and experiences.

Pedro Brito is a musician and visual artist based in Lisbon, Portugal. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at ESAD Caldas da Rainha.
In his musical work under the alias Waterdownrobotroute, Pedro explores the crossover between sounds that reference dance music and more melodic and personal soundscapes that are driven by themes of language, response and memory.

During this residency period we took a diaristic approach. We intended to continue our personal explorations – through Ema’s drawings and Pedro’s soundscapes – but now letting the flow and pace of Itoshima come into it.

We are going to be exhibiting in the space of the shrine. And as the shrine reflects upon collective experiences of the past, we are reflecting on our personal experiences in this place through our mediums.

Ema Gaspar and Pedro Brito “Recordings”
Exhibition style: Installation (Sound and Drawing)
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
**Sound live performance by Pedro Brito will take a place at 17:00 for half hour on 25th and 26th, and during the talk tour around 18:00 on 27th.

* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Mitch Shiles’s Exhibition “So Little About Almost Nothing 何もないようで僅かに存在するもの”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition So Little About Almost Nothing by Mitch Shiles on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Mitch Shiles was born Pennsylvania 1986, Mitch Shiles is a visual artist that merges multiple media and often vacillates between utilitarian, sculptural, and experiential practices.

Trained as a ceramist, his processes bridge both computer-aided methods and ancient craft techniques. In 2014, he received his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and has gone on to teach at the Harvard Ceramics program, Massachusetts College of Art, Lesley University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has participated in residencies at Haystack in the state of Maine, NES in Skagastrond Iceland, and Art Farm in the State of Nebraska.

This exhibition attempts to render ideas surrounding the limits of human perception for intangible things, and how we may be haunted by the specter of our actions.

Mitch Shiles “So Little About Almost Nothing 何もないようで僅かに存在するもの”
Exhibition style: Mixed Media: sculpture, and new media
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Rachel Eng’s Exhibition “Collections”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Collections by Rachel Eng on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Rachel Eng grew up exploring the deciduous forests of Rochester, NY. Her work questions human’s perceptions of the natural world through the use of ephemeral and permanent materials including clay, plastic, paper, and found objects. Through repetitive patterns and the use of multiple elements, her work seeks to create complex visual and textural experiences.

The works in this exhibition are collections of both found and made objects and drawings. The composition of these collections question how we perceive and value the natural world. Eng uses materials that she has gathered while in Itoshima as well as things collected since traveling from Tokyo to Fukuoka. These collections reference the rural, coastal, and urban landscape of Japan.

Rachel Eng “Collections”
Exhibition style: Visual Arts
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

-Rachel Eng received an art grant from Center for Sustainability Education at Dickinson College to complete the residency at Studio Kura.
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Announcing Meagan Smith’s Exhibition “Cultivation”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Cultivation by Meagan Smith on July 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Meagan Smith is an interdisciplinary fiber and ceramic artist from Kent, Ohio, United States. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from The University of Akron in 2015. She is currently matriculating a Masters of Fine Arts in Textiles from Kent State University. This year, she was selected as a grant recipient of the International Travel Award funded by Kent State University, Surface Design Award Outstanding Student, Alpaca Design Finalist, and continually showing at invitational exhibitions regionally and nationwide.

Cultivation is influenced by the agricultural irrigation surrounding the area. The work relates to the rice fields and dense bamboo forests that have a unique set of gridded structure growth similar to weaving and systems. Collected found objects are transported from beaches nearby and become small material studies that raise awareness of polluted habitat. The manmade and natural object become united in the sculptures.

Meagan Smith “Cultivation”
Exhibition style: Fiber & Sculpture
Date: July 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 16:00.
* The exhibitions by other eight current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

-Meagan Smith received an art funding from Kent State University Graduate Student Senate to complete the residency at Studio Kura.
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Announcing Yvan Mas’s Exhibition “Variations in Itoshima”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Variations in Itoshima by Yvan Mas on July 20(Sat.) & 21(Sun.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Yvan Mas is a French/Spanish artist living near Barcelona, Spain. He has exhibited in France, Switzerland, Spain, Japan and the United States. His most relevant exhibition was at Space K Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. He has studied with Professor Luc Peltriaux in Toulouse in his youth but is mainly self taught. Yvan has been awarded as finalist at several awards such as Honda, Torres García and the prestigious BMW.

For this exhibition I continue my work but with the elements that I find are most used in Japan, like wood and paper.
I also intend to give freewill to my expression through a series of inks and water colours, as I believe that my watercolours have a close relation with Japanese philosophy as being derived from Shintoism and its respect for the elements and time on objects. What I paint with water is altered but the humidity, the heat and the wind of Itoshima, and I have to accept the interaction of these local elements on my paintings.

My works with wood and paper are more meditated, and more defined with previous drawings and variations with a research for harmony and perfection.

Yvan Mas “Variations in Itoshima”
Exhibition style: Collages of engraving paper on painted wood standing structures
Date: July 20 (Saturday) and 21 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk at 16:00 on both days.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held on July 25(Thu.) – 27(Sat.).

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Yvan Mas received an art funding from Institut Ramon Llull to complete the residency at Studio Kura.