Artist Residence in Sengokuhara - Japan
In July 2018 I was invited to be part of an international creative cohort and an unique, intensive eleven-day residence in Hakone, Japan, set in the foothills of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park west of Tokyo. I had the incredible opportunity to meet, work with and exchange ideas with six Japanese artists and five other internationals (I was the only participant from the United States). The work I did at the residency is now a part of the corporate sponsor Hoshino Resorts International’s permanent collection at their new location, Hoshino Resorts Kai Hakone, Hakone, Japan.
The patterns, colors and cut outs used in the work were informed by the local environment of Hakone. While the pieces are expressive of a decorative aesthetic that emphasizes rhythm, gesture and repetition of motif there is a conceptual component integrated into every piece—the printed line drawings, copied from a child's coloring book, of works by the Japanese Edo Period artist, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The appropriated and collaged Hokusai fragments reference the historical appropriation by the West and Western European artists, often without citation or recognition of the original source. My use of those Hokusai images (all include a view of Mt Fuji) as a white non-Japanese artist, acknowledges that historic use and the influence of Japanese art and culture on non-Japanese artists and aesthetics.
Thank you to the following for their support of my work while in Japan:
Artist in Residence in Sengokuhara Residency Program
Gallery SUDOH, Tokyo
Hoshino Resorts International and the Kai Hakone Resort