The Mystery that Lodges in You: Two Artists’ Exhibition by Midori Tsukada and Mayu Nakata Wednesday, April 20, 2022 - Sunday, May 1, 2022

Gallery NOW is pleased to present “The Mystery of Dwelling: Two Artists, Midori Tsukada and Mayu Nakata” from April 20 (Wed) to May 1 (Sun), 2022.

KOGEI” is now widely recognized around the world as a form of craft that extends the possibilities of individual expression while following tradition.
This exhibition introduces two of these artists, Midori Tsukada and Mayu Nakata, who have developed cutting-edge expressions of craft.

Using glass, the oldest material known to have been created by man, Midori Tsukada creates organic and dynamic forms with a delicate expression reminiscent of the veins and cells of a plant. The glass is then polished and cut to create a complex light that embraces several layers within the vessel. Tsukada’s works seem to condense the universal beauty of nature of the earth, sometimes evoking the sensation of sunlight filtering through the trees deep in the forest, and at other times looking up at the surface of the water from the bottom of the ocean.

Making full use of “kinma”, a traditional Thai-Myanmar lacquer technique that flourished in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Mayu Nakata carves the lacquer surface with a blade, then fills it with dozens of coats of lacquer. After hardening, he further polishes the surface to bring out its rich expression. By carving the lacquer surface deeper, Nakata increases the number of layers of colored lacquer to create complex intertwined patterns. The patterns reflect the mental landscapes of various local climates, giving form to phenomena that would otherwise remain invisible.

The two artists’ creations, which are created with an eye on the abyssal world of nature and the mystery of it in their works, are like activities in which they themselves weave a part of the history of life by discovering the rhythm of nature in the production process and surrendering themselves to it. In this digital age, when real-time changes in the world, such as the spread of social networking sites, permeate our daily lives, it is precisely our hands, equipped with sensitivity like tentacles that sharpen our senses, and our attitude of honestly confronting materials that are needed today. Using glass and lacquer, these two artists, based in Hokuriku, have been attracting attention as flag-bearers of “KOGEI.
We invite you to view the crystallization of the skills and sensibilities of these two artists, who have both maintained a universal beauty and further evolved their expressions with their new works as their main focus.