Swayed Shadows | Kazuki SAKAI + Chihiro TAKI

CfSHE Gallery is pleased to present Swayed Shadows | Kazuki SAKAI + Chihiro TAKI showcasing the works of two young emerging artists in conjunction with 3331 Art Fair to be held in the same building. Using mokuhanga (water-based woodblock printmaking technique) as a main medium, Sakai and Taki will create the installation of mokuhanga prints which arouse the sensation of delicate tactility.

Shadows in question are reminiscent of Plato's Allegory of Cave in general, but in the looking of art, it is concerned with an image that artists observe in their subject, illusion transferred onto the canvas, or impression given to the viewers. These shadows will be present by means of mokuhanga's material and technique, which will resonate and sway in the installation.

Sakai relates mokuhanga to filmmaking. He uses the image of his friends and found photos as a starting point of his creation. He soaks printing paper extensively and print the layers of ink for a number of times. This process generates fragile and fuzzy feature of his work inspiring the passage of time and things. Unlike Sakai's depiction of people, Taki's work results from the encounter with Nature and a space. The dialogue with these things - the experience of purely communicating with a subject in question - is processed and translated into color, shape and bleeds. While representing 'shadows', her work demonstrates the presence and the physicality of its origin to the same or even more extent. Taki's work also reveals the delicate quality of color and texture resulting from washi and repetitive printing - like Sakai's approach. These elements evident in Sakai's and Taki's work - delicate physicality, tension and the depth of spatiality - are commonly inherent to mokuhanga.

This exhibition will be held under the title of Contemporary Mokuhanga. Water-based woodblock printmaking currently called as 'Mokuhanga' has developed its definition way beyond the traditional mokuhanga or sosaku-hanga. Both Taki's and Sakai's works were highly remarked as 'Japanese Contemporary Mokuhanga' in Fragile Story (2016) that traveled to Australia and the US. Swayed Shadows aims to present the contemporary adaptation of mokuhnaga in Japan. It will invite viewers to enjoy the dialogue with various 'shadows' and with the new potential of mokuhanga.


To attend the artist talk, please let us know your name and the number of attendees by 16th March. E-mail: infodesk(a)endeavor.or.jp