ura, 2023
installation (scroll down for more info)
Paper handmade by the artist (kozo)
The title Ura references the underside of handmade paper — the side that touches the drying surface, such as a board or a hot plate. Yet the word can also refer to one’s “private self,” or the reality of a situation behind the glossy covering. In this work, the ura is these pulp paintings: the works themselves made backwards, with the artist never seeing the result until they are peeled off the screen. They reveal basic gradients, portals, and light lines, and a restraint that contradicts the textured, painterly omote (front side, or “image” of something).
This installation was shown at the current Mi-Lab Mokuhanga Innovation Residency, formerly the Yamatoya Gallery (Japan). The installations omote and hikari are related artworks and were shown within the same structure.