Small Gathering - exhibition

Kokeshi

Small Gathering is a latest ceramic exhibition at Consulate-General of Japan in Melbourne.

Collection of small ceramic figurines shows worlds of creatures from my childhood memories and stories. This new medium has taken me an interesting direction from adapting 2D works into 3D representations since last year and I'm so excited to be showing these works for the first time in Melbourne after my two solo exhibitions in Hong Kong and New York last year.

work in progress ceramic busts

ZODIAC in Sydney

Damon Kowarsky and I are very excited to present our new suite of prints ZODIAC at Sofitel Sydney Wentworh.

Zodiac series is inspired by the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac at Sanjusangendo in Kyoto when we visited Japan together in 2011 and 2013 with a Facetnate! Artist's Travel Grant from Japan Foundation, Sydney.

This exhibition is officially opened by Me Masato Takaoka, Consul General of Japan in Sydney.

Opening 

Wednesday 25 March

6:30-7:30pm

at The Library

Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

Exhibition will continue until 26 June 2015.

If you are able to attend please RSVP to Emma Wilson by 15 March.

Here are some of the prints from the series!

Rooster

Tiger

Snake

Japanese hare

Japanese hare, 2014

Latest print from my time at Australian Print Workshop.
It is a Japanese hare I drew from Tokyo Nature and Science Museum.

Original sketch of Japanese hare

More hare prints to come!!

Getting very close to the days at Athenaeum Library

I'm starting my residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library from Monday 21 July.
Here are some sneak peeks of my works for the Library.
These are my interpretations as an adult of Japanese folklores and ghost stories I heard as a child.

I'll be making these books during the week as well as demonstrating and giving talks on Wednesday and Thursday.
Or if you are in town, feel free to pop in, we can talk about books and maybe make something together!

Boat spirit (working title), 2014

Wrath of cats (working title), 2014

Old fox of Aoyama (working title), 2014

Melbourne Athenaeum Library
Level 1, 188 Collins Street (right opposite Regent Theatre, above Athenaeum Theatre)
Melbourne
03 9650 3100

Tunnel books and Other Illuminations

If you are in Melbourne city in the week starting Monday 21 July, I would love to invite you to the historic Melbourne Athenaeum Library where I'll be making a series of tunnel books based on Japanese ghost stories and folklores with illuminations like festival lanterns.

Cat festival, 2014

I'm giving talks for Nite Art, 6pm Wednesday 23 July and the Rare Book Week, 12:30pm Thursday 24 July. 

It also coincides with Open House Melbourne, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July.

The library will get over 4000 guests over the weekend!!

Tunnel books and other illuminations

Monday 21 to Sunday 27 July

Melbourne Athenaeum Library

Level 1, 188 Collins Street

Melbourne

9650 3100

Talks

- Wednesday 23 July, 6pm (Library will be open until 11pm!)

- Thursday 24 July, 12:30pm 

It's so cold in Melbourne but there are so many exciting events happening around town during the mid-winter!

Nico and Miki

Nico and Miki, 2014

Nico and Miki is my latest print based on my childhood friend Miki and her rabbit Nico.
I enjoyed looking at him hopping around the house with his cute round bottom!

It's currently being exhibited at 13 Melbourne Printmakers exhibition at Rathdowne Galleries.

Words for Missing types in Kamaishi

Damon and I were involved in an exhibition 足りない活字のためのことば (Tarinai Katsuji no tame no Kotoba) 'Words for missing types' in October last year in Tokyo.

Now this exhibition has travelled to Kamaishi, Iwate, where the types were discovered in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Exhibition shows poems by 12 poets using limited types found at a printer in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and works by 6 printmakers responding to some of these poems.

Words for Missing types
4 May - 1 June

Minna no ie Cadatte
1-3-2 Tadakoecho, Kamaishi city, Iwate, 026-0021
10am - 6pm
Closed on Mondays

足りない活字のためのことば」展
会　期：2014年5月4日(日)～6月1日(日)
　　　　月曜休館　※5月5日(月)は開館
時　間：10：00～18：00
　　　　最終日は16：00まで
会　場：釜石商店街「みんなの家 かだって」
　　　　〒026-0021 岩手県釜石市只越町1-3-2

Along the River Kyoto

My collaborative suite of prints Along the River with Damon Kowarsky will be exhibited at Aesop Kawaramachi in Kyoto, Japan.

Melbourne based writer Jon Williams produced a story to accompany our images.
Noriko Tabei, freelance writer also based in Melbourne, provided a Japanese translation.

We are handling out the booklet / zine of our images with the story at the exhibition too.

A special thank-you to my lovely Irwin and McLaren bookbinders for letting me bind the zines!

Life Along the River

Suite of etchings I made with Damon Kowarsky called Along the River is going to Hong Kong for an exhibition titled Life Along the River from 6 to 30 March at Odd One Out and Aesop Hong Kong.

Life Along the River is a collaborative suite of 14 etchings and an accompanying zine. The prints and zine are based on Damon's drawings of the riverside architecture of Kyoto, Japan with artistic interventions by Kyoko.
The drawings were made during our research trip to Japan in 2011 and 2013.

There will be a permanent installation at Aesop Head office in Hong Kong too.
Permanent installation and selected prints from the suite will be at Aesop Head office in Hong Kong from 4 March.
Please join us see the installation with refreshments on 6 March, 6:30 - 8:30pm.

The complete suite of Along the River can be viewed at Odd One Out from 6 - 30 March.
You are all welcome to come to the opening party on 7 March, 7:00 - 9:00pm.

Life Along the River
6 - 30 March
Aesop head office, Hong Kong
22 Upper Station Street
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong

Odd One Out
G/F 34 Sau Wa Fong
Wan Chai
Hong Kong

Yatagarasu

Yatagarasu, 2013

Yatagarasu is a three legged crow in Japanese mythology and legend, revered in particular shrines in mountains in Japan as a divine messenger.
Three legged crow is also depicted in various mythologies around the world such as China and Northern Africa.

There is a close relationship between crows in mythologies around the world and the sun.
In Japanese mythology, it's considered an embodiment of the sun too, the concept that's likely to have come from China.
Ainu ( indigenous people in northern island of Japan and islands in Russia), Greek and Inuit mythologies also show the relationship of the sun and crows.

This image of Yatagarasu is actually a rare albino crow.
I started reading about the significance of crows after I found a drawing of it in my sketchbook.
I decided to call it Yatagarasu as a white crow looked ethereal and otherworldly to me.

Images of crow in relation to the myths and folklores is something I would like to pursue further in the future. I hope this Yatagarasu print is the first of many more crow prints to come!

This print is edition of 50 and available at Port Jackson Press and Printmaker gallery in Melbourne, Odd One Out in Hong Kong as well as my online store.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Thank you so much everyone who has supported me this year.

It's been so fortunate to have a busy year, going here and there working and meeting lots of people.

Special thank you to Damon Kowarsky for continuing to work with me on damonandkyoko.tk and Cameron White for working with me and will work with me on an exciting project in 2014.

I hope I can keep on being busy making works that I truly love and enjoy.

It's fun making works for myself but it makes it so worthwhile when YOU give me lovely comments and enjoy my works.

I will be posting exhibition information, new works and news on this blog, my Facebook page and my website. 

I have my prints on sale on Etsy too. Though not all of my prints are there, I'll try to put them up as much as possible.
Or please contact me or the galleries - Cascade Print Room, Falkner Gallery, Lauriston Print Room, Printmakers Gallery and Port Jackson Press.

If you would like to get in touch with me, please email or Facebook message me.

Last but not least, big thank you to Eric who always gives me the biggest support.

Thank you so much again in 2013 and I look forward to meeting and working with you in 2014.

My childhood friend's rabbit Nico Robin - one of my highlights of the trip to Japan this winter

Here is a cheesy photo of where I am at the moment :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sunny wintery London. 

Love, Kyoko

Gathering

Gathering, 2013

As I've said this countless times previously, I’ve always drawn rabbits. 

My existing first drawing was rabbits and my primary school art project was of rabbits. My doodles on my textbooks were rabbits too.

I probably enjoyed drawing their long ears and cute round tails to start with but by drawing them over and over the image of rabbit has become almost like a personal emblem.

After relocating to Australia I found out that rabbits were considered vermin and an environmental disaster- despite also being a domestic pet. In Japan they are fetishised and populate traditional art and craft as well as popular culture.

I thought this difference in two countries was striking and was fascinated by the fact that a tiny cute animal like rabbit can multiply so fast so that it becomes such a threat to people and environment.

I wanted to create an image where rabbits meet under moonlight to make a plan for world domination over us for this print Gathering.

I found one of my first drawings at my dad's house in Japan below.

I was 4? The carrots confirmed me that it is a rabbit.

I also found my rabbits from my primary school project. I think it was grade 5?
It was kind of like a scratchboard method.

As my family say, I haven't changed or improved since childhood after art degree and all.

Chibi

Chibi, 2013

Chibi is a word meaning a little kid in Japanese.
This is a portrait of myself as a three-year-old chibi with gold fish.

Gold fish reminds me of summer festivals in Japan.

Gold fish scooping is a game at summer festivals where a player catches gold fish with a special scoop made of paper or net.
The gold fish caught at the game often ends up being neglected or abandoned. I remember feeling helpless looking at the gold fish at the festivals as I knew what was going to happen to the beautiful small fish.

To date my idea of gold fish is not only something beautiful but also transient.

I'm leaving wintery Japan tomorrow - leaving never fails to make me feel sad.

I'm heading to a colder part of the world, see you soon London!

Words for missing type - exhibition

Damon Kowarsky and I are excited to be part of the exhibition 足りない活字のためのことば - Words for missing type in Japan from 1 October.

Using limited types found at a printer in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, 12 poets were asked to create poems. 6 printmakers made images to accompany some of these poems.

Exhibition runs from 1 October - 2 November.
Bakuro-cho Art + Eat
202 Agata-Takezawa Bldg. 1-2-11 Higashi-Kanda
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

There will be a reading session and talk by the poets and printmakers on 12 October at the gallery.
Information is on the website but currently only in Japanese so if you need more information, please contact me.
I can get in touch with the curator.

「足りない活字のためのことば」展 が馬喰町で１０月２日から１１月２日まで行われます。
三陸・釜石の印刷工場で、東日本大震災を生きのびたわずかな活字を使って１２人の詩人によって作られた詩と６人のアーティストによる挿絵の展示会です。
私たちは菅啓次郎さんの素敵な詩に絵をつけさせて頂きました。
１２日には朗読会も企画されているので是非どうぞ！

Catching light, 2013

Along the river

Past few weeks I've been preparing for a collaborative print project named Along the river with Damon Kowarsky that will take place in The Art Vault in Mildura from 25 June.

We are trying to create a suite of 14 colour etchings based on Damon's drawings of riverside architecture in Kyoto with my drawing to intervene with them, as well as an accompanying zine during the artist in residence program.

This project is supported by Arts Victoria as part of their Arts Development project grant.
Damon's drawings were made in April while we were travelling in Japan as part of Japan Foundation's support program.

I'll be posting all the updates and progress of this project on Damon and Kyoko Collaborative Project news. Please keep an eye out.

Here are some of the plates we've drawn. 

'Falling rabbits' plate

'Snapper festival' plate

'Wombat family' plate

Bird prints

Long tailed tit, 2013

I've been making bird prints in preparation for a bird show in October and November that I'm having with Bridget Farmer in Castlemaine.

Long tail tit is a tiny round bird commonly found in Europe and Asia.
Without the tail, it's smaller than even a sparrow.
This Long tailed tit I drew is Aegithalos caudatus japonicus, subspecies that inhabits in Hokkaido - the northern island of Japan.
It has white head with no spots with really cute face!

Chestnut-cheeked Starling, 2013

Chestnut-cheeked Starling is a species of starling about 19cm in length inhabiting in Sakhalin islands in Russia, Kuril islands and northern Japan and moves to Philippines and Borneo in winter.

During breeding season, they live in pairs but they form a group when they move locations.

This bird had a combination of beautiful cream colour head and brown patch on the cheeks.

I saw this guy in National Science and Nature Museum in Tokyo, and fell in love with his shape of the body and beautiful colour.

Geese and lotus, 2013

I met these geese at just outside Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.

I went there with my dad early in he year and they kept following my dad.

There are lots of them!

I drew lotus in Royal Botanical Garden in Sydney when I visited there with my dad too.

Lotus is one of my favorite plants, if not the best.

It always is a symbolic, and 'spiritual' plant (though I hate to use this word) and I just love the curious shape and large flowers hovering over the top.

Geese and Lotus was printed in this kind of pinky colour but I intend to print it in different colours too.

Effector

My friend Cameron has a collection of guitars as well as guitar effect pedals.

I've never used one before but apparently every single pedal works differently - some make subtle variations to the sounds, while others transform the sound dramatically.

Earlier this year Cameron suggested that we make a zine based on these pedals.

I didn't know anything about them but I like the idea of drawing such fetishised objects with diverse and cool design.

As I was in Japan at the time, he started drawing the pedals from his collection and I started drawing pedals borrowed from my brother's friend.

Big Muff Deluxe by Cameron White

Russian Big Muff by Kyoko

As we worked tother, we realised I called them 'effectors', as that's what we call them in Japanese.

Thus the name of the zine!

Front cover

Cameron also has many, many resistors of different colours.

I think his suggestion to use them as staples worked very nicely.

Back

Commune - gallery, cafe and shop in Tokyo - stocks this zine in the shop.

It offers lots of great handmade jewellery as well as zines and exhibition space.

Commune

5-28-3-1F, Daita, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0033
〒155-0033 東京都世田谷区代田5-28-3-1F

http://www.ccommunee.com/

contact.commune@gmail.com

Opening hours:

Weekdays 14:00 - 20:00
Sat, Sun & public holiday 12:00 - 20:00
CLOSE : Thursday

If you are in Tokyo, it's worth a visit!!
Details of the zine is on my website too.

Lidth's Jay

Lidth's Jay, 2013, etching and aquatint

Lidth's Jay, also known as Amami Jay is a bird native to Amami islands in Japan.

Amami islands are home to some rare and endangered species like this bird and Amami rabbit.

I drew this bird at National Nature and Science Museum in Tokyo in snowy January this year.

First thing I noticed was the colour of its feathers. 

It changes its blue hue with light - purply blue on one angle but peacock blue on the other angle and so on - thus the name of this bird in Japanese Rurikakesu - Ruri is the colour of lapis lazuli.

The plants on this image is a mixture of my drawings in the sketchbook - some are drawn from life in New Zealand, some are native plants to Amami Islands drawn from photos - I've never been there before.

This Lidth's Jay will be exhibited at Bird's Gallery from 23 April as part of my solo show called Adore.

More information is coming soon!

Original drawing of Lidth's Jay