TAB Event - Kumi Machida "Snow Day"

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At Nishimura Gallery
Media: Painting

Kumi Machida was born in Gunma prefecture in 1970. She graduated from Tama University of Art in 1994, majoring in nihon-ga (Japanese style painting). Since then, she has made work using uniquely Japanese motifs such as Kewpie, Fukusuke and beckoning cats ("manekineko"), rendered in sumi ink on washi paper. In 2004, Machida presented some paintings together with Kengo Nakamura at an exhibition entitled "Nihon-ga", held at Nishimura Gallery. With her unconventional expressive idioms that stand completely apart from traditional approaches usually taken by nihon-ga, Machida's work has earned much favorable critical attention.
Some remarkable characteristics of her work include clear-lined draftsmanship in sumi ink on Kumohada linen paper, and a minimal sense of color fleshed out with mineral pigments. At first sight, a viewer mayh get the impression of thick lines drawn with vigor, but they are actually thin lines drawn repeatedly to convey a strong sense of willpower. As the motifs of her paintings changed gradually from Japan-specific objects (good luck charms, etc.) to more universal, ambiguous ones, the precision of these lines has increased, while the originality of her forms of expression have been brought to a new level. Machida went on to hold her first solo exhibition at Nishimura Gallery in 2005 and "MOT Annual -No border- From 'Nihon-ga' to 'Nihon-ga'" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006. Over the course of such an illustrious career, Machida's electric personality embodied in her simple pictures earned her much critical attention. Meanwhile, she earned the Grand Prize at the Sovereign Asian Art Contest 2007 in Hong Kong, bringing her acclaim on an international scale. This year, Machida held a solo exhibition in Hannover, which helped widen her appeal even more.

This time, Machida is presenting 10 new works, including "Snow Day," which was exhibited at Kestnergesellshaft. She draws out and gives symbolic form to subtle feelings and sensations -the turmoil within self-consciousness, the uneasiness felt that results from living as part of society, and the sense of anxiety which hangs over communication with others, and so on - sentiments that everyone experiences unconsciously. "Kotohogi" shows two people situated extremely close to each other and whose ears are linked by one pierced earring. This work exposes conflicting emotions such as closeness and alienation, anxiety and security. Also on display will be other paintings like "Lens" and "Perch" that depict the profound world created by Machida.

For those who eager to see more of her work, there will be another exhibition, "Kumi Machida -Lines beyond Words," held at the Takasaki Tower Museum from June 28th to August 24th.

[Image: "Snow Day" (2008) sumi (blue), mineral pigments, pigments, color pencil, pencil on kumohada linen paper 194 x 162cm]

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