Panel nine - Selected by Yuna MUTO
Curator Comment by MUTO Yuna about “Sky” by GONG Siqing
The theme of this year's postcard exhibition is ‘cultivate’. The word ‘cultivate’ has many meanings. For example, ‘plow’, ‘nourish’, and ‘nurture’. The artist GONG Siqing has combined these meanings to focus on the ‘spread’ of power and substance. This is why she has created this work, which has a sense of internal and external expansion.
The work was made using handmade paper, Kozo (paper mulberry) and wool, and then converted into a digital image of 127 x 178 mm. This is the extent of what we can see. However, we can certainly feel the outward expansion and depth of the work. This is because of the characteristics of the support, which is made up of interconnecting fibers. Also, as the title suggests, the work represents the sky, but not a sunny, clear blue, but a deep, multi-layered blue. The choice of color to represent the awe-inspiring vastness of the sky also gives a sense of the aforementioned 'expanse'.
We marvel at the sky, which seems to swallow everything, and we have a kind of fear of it. Using the sky as a subject, the artist has successfully expressed the ‘expanse’ captured in the meaning of ‘cultivate’.
Curator Comment by MUTO Yuna about “Strings Attached” by Holly READ
The theme of the exhibition is ‘cultivate’, a word with a complex meaning. The 3D art students, including the artist who created the work above, focused on ‘cultivating’ their skills and techniques.
The work is a photographic composition of separately stitched models, arranged in an intertwining pattern. The back is woven with colorful threads, while the front has similar colored threads extending from a single point. She began her work by researching works that use thread, such as the bookbinding method of thread binding. She read the intentions and techniques behind these works and used them to inform her own work. Her sketches included notes on how to sew and combine threads, as well as practice sewing with them. The result of this trial and error is a work that is a true testament to her planning. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of thread is embroidery, but in this work the thread is not laid out like in embroidery, it is stretched out. If you only look at the area of the threads, it is not a dense work. However, the space between the threads must have been calculated. It can be said that the whole picture plane is composed according to the artist's intention and calculations.
As mentioned above, she has deepened her knowledge of technique in her work. This experience has undoubtedly helped to develop her skills and broaden the scope of her future expression.
GONG Siqing (Artist)
Born in Sichuan, China. She is enrolled in the Design Course (Textile Design) at Joshibi College of Art and Design.
Holly READ (Artist)
Born in Lincolnshire, UK. She is enrolled in the Art & Design Foundation Studies Course at Loughborough University. She often makes works with strings, threads, and ties.
MUTO Yuna (Curator)
Born in Saitama, Japan. 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 Art and the Anthropology Seminar. She likes to eat.