Re-Horizon and meandering

Re-Horizon and meandering

Akiko Sumiyoshi

2020.9.11 Fri - 2020.10.10 Sat

TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY is pleased to present Akiko Sumiyoshi’s solo exhibition “Re-Horizon and meandering”.

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1981, Sumiyoshi started her artist activity in 2005 after graduating from Bunsei University of Art and has been creating her artworks with her full dedication until now.

Although the medium and expression method has changed, she has been still presenting a consistent view of the forest landscape inhabited with the animals with adorable faces, through her paintings, sculptures, and installations.

At the 2011 TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY solo exhibition, many viewers were fascinated by the installation that transformed the gallery space, focusing on sculptures of animals sleeping in a green hammock nest.

Behind the process of creating animals with soft and cute expressions, you can observe the stoic attitude of Sumiyoshi to her artworks. Due to her eagerness in studying the habits and physiques of animals from numerous materials and illustrated books we believe that new creatures full of vitality will be born in her artworks.

This exhibition, which will be announced for the first time in about 9 years at TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY, will present paintings with traditional motifs using gold leaf and silver leaf as the background and large-scale two-fold and two-fold gold folding screen works at Main Gallery. Also, in the Viewing Room, you will see paintings and sculptures that have been produced in the past. By looking at Akiko Sumiyoshi’s past and present artworks, you will enjoy its peculiarity such as the appearance of the process of evolving while maintaining a consistent attitude.

 

[Artist’s statement]

“What I create is neither something I have never seen nor something unknown”.

“I can’t create something I don’t know. I make things by spinning the events, times, and memories I encountered (someday) in my life”.

It means that (someday) and now are connected. Horizontal lines and meandering.

Even if they look like one horizon, they each flow on their own. The meanderings, the place (or the passing point) where I arrived, now exists as this horizon here.

And it’s not the same moment.
There is past there and when it comes here, there is future ahead.

What you ate yesterday makes up your today’s body. The bike you rowed forward moves forward. “Here is the essence” i.e time, space, reality and imagination are all connected.

____ _

On the same axis
There are things I learned some day
Silence in the endless forest
Absoluteness under the spreading water From the sky, from the trees, from the ground From blue, from waves, from light
Bent and stared
Laughing through a loud voice
This is something that everyone knows Everyone will meet one day

Yesterday and today
From today to tomorrow
From here to here and anywhere