Refraction: Translations of Japanese Landscape

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, May 29, 6-8 pm at Open Studio.

Refraction (noun)
The fact or phenomenon of light being deflected in passing obliquely through the interface of one medium and another of varying density.
— Oxford Dictionary

Fumiko Goto, Fuki Hamada, and Yoshie Uchida are active members of the Japanese graphics scene, each approaching their surroundings with distinct perspectives in their imagery. Refraction: Translations of Japanese Landscape invites insight into how these three artists translate their immediate environments while living within urban density.

Fumiko Goto explores the undeveloped hillside forest near where she lives. Her photo-intaglio series reflects a season of stillness, nature asleep, revealed through tangled tree branches and bushes that counter the ordered manifestations found in Zen gardens. Goto tempts us with the possibility of a broader view, only to draw us back into the foreground, where attention must remain on what is immediately present.

Fuki Hamada guides us into similar terrain but removes any expectation of seeing beyond. Her carefully scaled perspective plays with perception, confusing distinctions between flora and shadow at close range. Shallow space becomes her realm, between the hard edges of leaves and stems and softer shadowed forms that disguise the overall patterning.

In contrast, Yoshie Uchida’s graphic works incorporate colour and direct our eyes toward the edges of the paper. Her elemental explorations of verticality, distance, and displacement recall Roland Barthes’ investigations into Japanese ways of seeing in Empire of Signs. Uchida presents isolated fragments of what may be water, land, air, forest, earth, ice, or leaf matter, inviting us to assemble the image in our minds.

Together, these three printmakers offer poetic and intimate perspectives on translating nature from Japan.

Curated by Derek Michael Besant, RCA

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Fumiko Goto has held solo exhibitions at Progressive Culture Works; and The Printmaking Workshop, USA. Her work has been presented internationally at Museu da Gravura, Curitiba, Brazil; the R.O.C. Biennial, Taipei; and the Seoul International Print Biennial. In Japan, her exhibitions include Fukuyama Museum; Chiba Prefectural Gallery; Joshibi Art Museum; U-Forum Art Museum; Hokkaido Modern Art Museum; the Yurinkan Kiryu City Biennial; and Monuments on the Road at Shirota Gallery. Her work is held in the collections of The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Collection at The Library of Congress, USA; and The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama.

Fuki Hamada has undertaken artist residencies in Longyearbyen, Norway; Jyväskylä, Finland; Logan, USA; and Edmonton, Canada. Her work has been exhibited at Tainan International Print Exhibition,Taiwan; The Krakow International Print Triennial (Special Award), Poland; and SNAP Gallery (solo), Canada. In Japan, her work has been shown at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, The National Art Center, U-Forum Art Museum, Kiryu City Yurinkan; and Gallery Natsuka. Her work is held in the collections of The Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland; Jyväskylä Art Museum,Finland; Aomori Contemporary Art Centre; Umetaro Azechi Memorial Museum,Ehime; Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo; and Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, USA.

Yoshie Uchida has undertaken overseas research studio residencies in New York, USA; Barcelona, Spain; and Yuanli, Taiwan. She has conducted workshops at Stamperia Busato, Southern Oregon University, and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. Her exhibitions in Japan include Okazaki Children’s Museum and the Kawakami Sumio Grand Prize Competition, where she received the Kanagawa Prize. She is a member of the Japan Print Association. Her work is held in the collections of Bibliothèque nationale de France; National Taiwan University of Education; Chiang Mai University Art Museum; Tama Art University Museum.

Derek Michael Besant, RCA has held solo shows at Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, for almost three decades. His public art projects in the downtown core include The Flatiron Mural on Front Street and Waterfall in Scotia Plaza at Bay & King Streets. He won the 30th Anniversary commission for Harbourfront Art Centre with FIFTEEN RESTLESS NIGHTS, an exhibition with backlit sites along Metro LRT subway stations, which became the feature exhibition at The Canadian Cultural Centre for NUIT BLANCHE, Paris, France. Recent group projects included works at Titanikas Art Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania; American University Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE; Musée de l’Ardenne à Charleville-Mézières, France; Künstlerhaus Museum, Vienna, Austria; Xi’an University of Architecture, China; and Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.