Artists infuse ancient art with new ideas
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
The enameled human form hanging in the new Japan Craft Artisans exhibit at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i has a mysterious meaning.
Enamel artist Kazuko Inomata likes to watch people try to interpret it.
Yasuko Kikuchi's unisex dolls, dressed in updated kimonos, are intended to reflect a philosophy of compassion and universal peace.
Inomata has jewelry boxes and images of flowers on display, but her favorites are the human forms, intentionally vague in gender or nationality.
It is her modern spin on an ancient art.
"This is a really traditional technique," said Inomata, who teaches her craft in Osaka, Japan. "But I hope the feeling is new."
| Japan Craft Artisans | |
| • | 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays, through March 2 |
| • | Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i |
| • | Free one-hour artists' demonstrations 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily, through March 1 |
| • | Free hands-on classes: 3-4 p.m. today (enameling), Saturday (doll-making), Feb. 27 (calligraphy), Feb. 28 (enameling) |
| • | 945-7633 |
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Works range from traditional ink-wash landscapes and calligraphy by painter Yasuko Yamada of Ito City, Shizuoka prefecture, to contemporary free-form cloth dolls by artist Kasuko Kikuchi from Funabashi City in Chiba.
Yamada has exhibited her charcoal ink paintings for more than three decades, and also displays T-shirts decorated with a Picasso-esque flair.
Kikuchi's dolls, dressed in updated kimonos, remind cultural center community relations director Helen Takeuchi of John Lennon's song "Imagine," with lyrics that imagine no countries, no religion and people living in peace, because the figures could represent people of any country or religion.
Kikuchi said the song of peace expresses the same philosophy she embraces, and she wants her dolls to show the unity of humankind and "infinite compassion" in the universe.
