Panel six - Selected by Mirai KOIZUMI
Curator Comment by KOIZUMI Mirai about “Ayame To Shōjo” by YAMAMOTO Miku
The theme of this exhibition ‘cultivate’ means to plow land, grow plants, and polish character and ability. The word ‘cultivate’ has diverse meanings. The title of the artwork drawn by YAMAMOTO Miku is “Ayame To Shōjo” (Iris and Girl). She produced the artwork with the intention to express “People's strength to live in nature, and that the history of people makes them beautiful.” It is conceivable that it was created with the meaning of polishing character and ability.
The woman depicted in this artwork is probably a girl judging from the title. However, the girl seems to be a mysterious existence like a goddess or fairy personifying spring itself or a spring breeze, because the girl is wearing a dress which is reminiscent of chiton, clothes of ancient Greece, and iris are swaying at her feet.
In addition, when asked about who her favorite artists are, YAMAMOTO answered Mucha as one of them. Art Nouveau, the art style seen in Mucha’s illustrations, has a characteristic of depicting natural things such as flowers and plants. It can be considered suitable for expressing cultivate’s meaning related nature.
We can feel the influence of such an art style in this artwork. Therefore, this artwork could be said to express the word of ‘cultivate’ related to nature with a sense of beauty and elegance.
Curator Comment by KOIZUMI Mirai about “Urban Growth” by Georgia GRANT
The exhibition’s theme ‘cultivate’ means to plow land, and grow plants. Those meanings are strongly related to nature. But, on the other hand this artwork, given a title “Urban Growth” can be translated to mean ‘city development’. In addition, the work looks like man-made skyscrapers standing in rows in a metropolis. It seems to be in contrast to nature. Then, how is this artwork related to the theme of‘cultivate?’. I had such question, so I choose it.
Georgia GRANT, the artist of this artwork, specializes in 3D Design and in her artworks an interest in architecture can be seen. For creating this artwork, the artist wanted to explore different joining mechanisms and know how effective those mechanisms are. This artwork was made in the process of that exploration. Furthermore, the artist states the architect Frank Gehry, is her favorite artist, and sense of fluidity in Gehry’s work can be seen in this work with the undulating multi-height forms.
Moreover, the word ‘cultivate’ is expressed by correlation between the natural, and the man-made worlds. This artwork looks like a forest of trees through the effect of using wood, while also expressing an urban metropolis.
YAMAMOTO Miku (Artist)
Born in Yamaguchi, Japan. She enrolled in Field of Art Produce and Museum Studies at Joshibi University of Art and Design. She enjoys doing illustration.
Instagram: ＠ajulie_miku
Georgia GRANT (Artist)
Born in Derbyshire, England. She is enrolled in the 3D Design Specialism, Art & Design Foundation Studies Course at Loughborough University. She often works physically with materials, to produce models, and hopes to study Architecture in the future.
Mirai KOIZUMI (Curator)
Born in Tokyo. She is enrolled in the Concentration in Art and Culture at Joshibi University of Art and Design. She belongs to the Western Art History Seminar and the Japanese Art History Seminar.