8th Annual Japanese Emarging Artists' Exhibition
JART 5th
New York Artist
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Yuko K.
painting & Mixed Media
Throughout my career as an artist, I have come to realize that symbolic figures and primary colors emanate certain energies that inspire me in my work, and I attempt to complete my personal message through these materials.
One day, before I started to paint, the blank canvas taught me the strength of white color itself, and that inspiration brought me to search of new potential for the creation with color of white.
After graduated art university in Japan, working for freelance illustrator, painting instructor etc.. and moved to NYC. Currently living in NY and working with various materials as painting, printmaking, illustration, photographs and videos for methodology of contemporary art.
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Yoko Naito
photograph
Nature exists as a part of the living environment in Iceland.
The simple life in nature is my unfamiliar living environment,
And there is a local people's wisdoms in order to live together with animals and nature by making use of it.
The contrasts of nature and humans, and nature and the artifacts which were made for adapting to live in nature.
Those sceneries make me to perceive a projection of the distance between a subject and me.
The step into the other people's life environment was a symbiosis that I never know on the computer screen.
Born in Japan.
Yoko Naito, born in Japan, has graduated from Nihon University College of Art, Tokyo, Japan in 2007.
She has worked as a graphic designer in Tokyo and currently living in New York as a photographer.
Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and Japan.
In 2012, she was selected as one of the emerging Japanese photographer "OVERSEAS 2012" RING CUBE Gallery, Tokyo by RICOH Company Inc. In 2014, her one of the project was selected for Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts -Young Portfolio, juried by Eiko Hosoe, Daido Moriyama, Masato Seto. She also received some awards such as International Photography Awards, London International Creative Competition and Prix de la Photographie Paris etc.
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Akihiro Ito
sculpture
Akihiro Ito’s sculpture, made of 600 pieces of Douglas fir wood in the shape of a baby, symbolizes the close relationship between humanity and nature. Wood is a material long-used by many cultures and represents serenity, warmth, and the dependence of people on their natural surroundings for survival. Additionally, the materials used draw attention to environmental protection issues as natural materials emit no pollutants.
The piece’s form and materials remind us of the impact of our actions on the earth and calls us to protect our natural resources for future generations.
Born in 1975, Japan. Live and work in USA. Artworks have been shown in galleries and museums in New York, New Jersey and Japan. In recent years, exhibited a large-scale wooden public sculpture “Forever” in Riverside Park South (Manhattan), “Tomorrow” in Fort Greene Park (Brooklyn), and Fordham Road (Bronx) in New York. Humanity and nature are part of the universe, and the human soul is eternal. Trying to show the close relationship between human and nature by using wood and stone as a material in artworks. Providing an opportunity for people to think about humanity’s connection to nature and universe through artworks.
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Yuriko Katori
pen drawing
My work concerns the conflicting yet coexistential relationships between human and nature, reality and fantasy, physical experiences and virtual experiences. Working mostly with ink on paper, I employ meticulous line strokes, geometric shapes and organic figures to create personal, spiritual, psychedelic landscapes of a dehumanized society and overly isolated environments.
Yuriko Katori is a Japanese artist working in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in NY and her BA in Literature from Waseda University in Tokyo.
Her recent exhibitions include Claudio Ciai Foundation in Florence, Curate NYC 2013(online exhibition by curator Linda Michael), National Arts Club in New York, and The Pyramida Centre for Contemporary Art in Israel.
Her work is featured in The New Florence Project 2015 Calender by Claudio Ciai Foundation.
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Mitsutaka Konagi
object
I am not one to project personal emotions through my work; nor am I one to make pieces that serve as a vehicles for some kind of message. This may make me sounds like I am very impersonal or cold with my work, but that is not exactly the case.
I simply try to express shapes and spaces that I intuitively make sense to me, or feel honest and true.
My pieces can be architectural. This is because I pay extra attention to extra space, and pay special attention to the shadows and geometric shapes that happen in my work. However, the geometry in my work is not technically accurate or true; rather, it is something that can happen only because of the organic process of putting it through my own filters. This creates an "incomplete" geometry that is a "complete" expression of my own.
My work is closely related to the relationship between light and dark. The way light hits an object to create shadows can create changes in color, or give a still object some movement; these are the things that intrigue me and inspire me to make work.
Mitsutaka Konagi is a sculptor born and raised in Japan. He has been living and working in New York since 2006. He is interested in nature, old architecture and ancient ruins - something he became familiar with through his experience of working as a stone carver, restoring landmarks and historical buildings in New York. He treasures the original colors and textures of the materials he uses for his pieces, such as clay, wood and stone. His work is very architectural in the sense that he pays extra attention to negative space, as well as shadows and geometric forms that happen in his work. Currently Konagi works from his studio in Brooklyn, New York.
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Shu Ohno
object
Where does my internal desire come from? And where does it go?
I create form which comes from impulse.
Actually, at times, when I'm working, when I'm carving, I feel I am like a bug--creating holes and uncontrollably bringing destruction to a form that was once perfect. But the material continues to breath even after all my wildness. The resilience of the material is so admirable, so it allows me to keep going until I find a form that fits into my missing parts.
Born 1981 in Fukuoka, Japan.
Lived eight years in Tokyo Japan, live in New York City from September 2012.
Kenichi Nakajima
painting, object, art project
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I make my work with many kind of materials. For example, cardboard, polystyrene foam, wood, paint, Canvas, pencil. I usually express reality, violence, love, sadness, life, death and sex by my work.
I have to feel raw sensations and emotions to the fullest. I want to feel cold when the temperature drops down and sweaty when it gets hot. I feel gritty in the mouth when I chew sand and softness when I touch someone’s skin. There is warmth and coldness, joy and sorrow, love and despair to explore with your heart. I fully saturate myself in the sensations. When that happens, that an impression is made.
The work shows the actual feeling, the impression. That is expression. When the expression conveys successfully the impression, that is art.
Kenichi Nakajima was born and raised in Sendai in Japan. He moved to New York City in 2007 where he has studied Painting and Sculpture at The Art Students League and Mixed Media at the National Academy School.
Nakajima has exhibit his work in numerous exhibitions in New York as 'FROM FEET TO ART' at NY Coo Gallery, New York, 'Kenichi Nakajima+Natsuko Hattori Exhibition' at Ouchi Gallery, New York, JART 4th Japanese Emerging Artists Exhibition at WAH Center, New York, Significant-Matters at PROJEKT722, New York, among others. He have been awarded with several scholarships and grants including The Margo L.H. Hammerschlag Scholarship 2011, Xavier and Ethel Edwards Gonzalez Grant and Edward G. McDowell Travel Grant 2009.
Nakajima currently lives in New York.
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Natsuko Hattori
object
My work conveys a sense of happiness and celebrates the human sprit. The gesture of wrapping fabric around each round ball is an act of transformation that converts pain, sadness, and despair into positive energy, such as love or prayer for comfort.
Fabric is my medium of choice because people everywhere can relate more easily to this material.
Ms. Natsuko Hattori is a three times recipient of the "Aoki Shigeru Memorial Grand Prix" award. In New York, her works had been exhibited Lobby Gallery at The Wall Street Journal Building, Consulate General of Japan, Caelum Gallery, First Street Gallery, the WAH Center Gallery etc. Her work has been displayed in various galleries in New York and in Japan. Hattori graduated from the University of Tsukuba, Art and Design, and moved to New York in 2010. Her work has appeared in many exhibits, and received awards, in Japan and NYC.