KAIR 2013: Final Exhibition

It's a tad difficult to condense the final exhibition for the KAIR residency. The work by all 3 artists was stunningly beautiful, thoughtful and evoked an appreciation for art in many mediums. And being privy to the movements and tribulations of the artists and their work only lent more depth to the experience of viewing them in their finished state. 

Of course the week leading up to the opening day was fraught with time issues as well as weather concerns. The Yuri-Za Theater where Nik's work hung had a couple leaky spots so Keiko and Sugimoto-san had to wrangle a plastic sheet over the area to protect it during a few days of intense downpour. (Thanks last typhoon of the season.) Sayaka had multiple machines and lights to configure so she was busy till the last minute. And Susken's installation had to be placed in her absence as a family emergency led to her leaving Japan with haste over a week early. Of course KAIR is very organized and all of these bumps in the road were just mere, well, bumps.

So the day went a little like this... Everyone wanting to partake met in the parking lot of the farmers market and we moved en masse through to the different locations where each artist made a presentation and answered questions. The translator was at hand and the people in attendance were from all over Shikoku.

Sayaka's work was an installation in the old saki factory with a Japanese tatami room set up for a dinner. She dyed fabrics with indigo and kaki shibu to use as walls and made animations and audio with her drawings and the music of a local African clay drum player. She also made a slow motion film of people's reactions to eating ume bashi (very sour plums) in close up. The overall experience was very nuanced and stimulating yet soothing with its warm glow, and at times very surprising. (The dinner on the table was actually projected animations of food onto plates that moved in the blink of an eye.)

Suskens work consisted of 2 projects. She made beautiful wooden "clouds" that hung massively opposite Nik's work in the theater. (They have just now been placed in their proper place on a sloping hill along the main road.) The overlapping created differences in the transparency and despite their size and heft made an ethereal impression. She had also been inspired to enliven a local dilapidated house by using old kimono fabrics to cover big wooden "rock" sculptures and place them throughout the rice field in front. Red, being an important color in Japanese culture and religion, was prevalent and made a dominating contrast  to the structure and was quite arresting to view from the road.

Nik's work, a goliath 4 x 7 m, was a kaleidoscope of imagery that presented itself to him throughout our experience in the area, both insights and impressions, and is thusly named Kagami (mirror). Using his techniques, he created a single medium collage inspired by things ranging from temples to farmers, the mountainous landscape to our neighbor. Local people really rejoiced in the myriad familiar elements. And of course the monumental size presented on the theater's stage was quite impressive.

Since the theater is rarely used, Nik's work was allowed to hang until January so many people were able to visit it throughout the 3 months. As an added bonus, KAIR and Nik decided to make a print edition and is available for sale. I've included image info at the bottom. If interested or have questions, please contact Keiko at info.gvi@gmail.com.

All the work was to be on view for about 10 days where people were free to view at their pleasure and leisure. The artists spent a lot of time there throughout the days with KAIR representatives to answer visitors' questions. It was a great pleasure to interact with people both familiar and unknown and of course come and go by bike in the glorious Autumn sunshine.

The whole exhibition was a resounding success with the most visitors the residency has ever seen. It's no surprise really as the artists all do fantastic work. But it's also clearly a sign that the residency as a whole is a successful vehicle for bringing out the best in the artists they choose to invite. It's truly a testament to the passion and thoughtful nature of all involved at KAIR to create such an enriching environment both for artists and art lovers.

The work is done!

installing...

installing...

<sigh>

Hopper, detail bottom right corner, walking along Kamogawa river in Kyoto

detail, man with umbrella was our old neighbor, he came outside to work everyday

pesky typhoon, but no damage done!

Exhibition Day! outside saki factory, Sayaka giving intro

Sayaka's tatami room, with animations on fabric walls and plates with audio

Sayaka hosted a dinner mid-week

indigo dyed fabric

sour plum film installation

table detail, shrimp, abalone, soy sauce...

Susken's kimono rocks

detail, with persimmons on tree (kaki)

Susken's clouds

Nik giving his presentation, Hopper insisted on being held...

...and fell asleep, with Sayaka's dad

studio with studies and smaller works, some traded and sold

Hopper and daddy, night time visit

 

photographing the work for postcards

during exhibition week, a chance to have more intimate conversations with visitors

Yuri-za Theater, with Keiko

Kagami, edition of 20, signed & numbered, 92x55 cm incl. margin, +/- EUR 280

Nik & The Kids' Workshop

All the of the artists participating in KAIR got the golden opportunity of doing workshops with local schools. Nik decided (or rather, was convinced by one enthusiastic teacher!) to do his with 5th and 6th graders at Jinryo Elementary School.

He organized to come in and take portraits in a darkened space using a flashlight to highlight their scary or funny face of their choice. He edited the photos to harsh black and white contrast, printed them on heavy watercolor paper, and cut along the white bits with an exacto knife so they could be used as a stencil. The kids got to choose which part to use as the stencil, the white or black. They then used different techniques he taught them to paint in the missing bits with sumi ink and they of course got to add things like ears and poop.

They had a brilliant day and the results were phenomenal. Some of them turned out so good that the teacher decided to enter them into an art contest in Tokushima City. I'll get back with an update once we've heard the results.

PS. Most, if not all, children in Japan have calligraphy class so the kids were quite adept at using brushes. Nik was impressed with their fastidious ways with setting up and cleaning up after themselves. 

practicing

Nik's Studio

Though there are many outstanding things about being a part of KAIR, the most important is the studio for the artist. It was stated in the literature that of course every artist would get a space to work in, but it was unclear where they were and exactly what they looked like.

When Nik and I would talk about how everything would be here, we had considered that he may have a little commute to the studio, perhaps by bike or even far enough to warrant the car. So to find out it's just up the road, literally about 20 meters, that Hopper and I can walk up to visit and paint, created this sense of wholeness to our sphere.

It's an old preschool building, which hasn't been in class for about 30 years. So it's wonderfully dilapidated, though quite tidy and functional, and as we've learned during this intense rain (thanks typhoons 15, 16, & 17), a little leaky. (There is currently a man on the roof whom we suspect will try to repair some holes.)

The spaces had to divvied up among the 3 artists, and since there was only one space with both a wall and floor adequate for Nik's working practice, it's obviously the one for him. It's perfect, spacious, and has a lot of natural light. He was so happy to get in and get working. 

So that's what we do most days, go up to see daddy and have a little inking session and talk about the naughty mosquitos that hover around outside the door. Hopper's also taken to doing a little excited soft-shoe dance when the immensity of space strikes him. He knows the way and likes to lead me there while I pretend not to know where it is.

that's it at the end of our driveway

this is the 'road' that continues up the mountain, to the hotel with a trout farm

bottles of sumi ink