Tomoko Kashiki

Ota Fine Arts is pleased to announce the second solo exhibition of Tomoko Kashiki, starting from 26th November.

Kashiki completed Ph.D. in Graduate School of Art (painting) at Kyoto City University of Arts in this spring, currently lives and works in Kyoto.

Her flat, smooth texture and flowing lines have a strong resemblance to Japanese paintings at the first sight. However all of her paintings are painted by acrylic, and managed to achieve smooth surface and layer upon layer of colours through her original process of repeating: painting on canvas, sanding down and painting again. Her characteristic style is reminiscent of Modern paintings or Buddhist paintings in Heian Period, even Shoen Uemura or Seihou Takeuchi. It may have inspired by the city of Kyoto, where she was born and spending all her life.

Since she was a child, she has been having the feeling of difficulty to express her thoughts to the others by words. The paintings are the ways for her to express "things in her head". "I start painting based on the image that I have, and my goal is how much I am able to get close to it." As she explained, she creates the painting which has many layers of colours. It is made by the process- gathering the threads of landscapes in her memory, unfolding them, painting them, erasing them, and comparing the painting and her goal, and repeating them again and again. Her flat and smooth surface of works aim to show any trace or time put into them - Kashiki thinks that the image on the paintings are just the image without the stories, so that there is no time existed.

The ordinary scenery transforms towards the completion of the painting. The viewers receive vivid impression as if they see some daydreams.

This year, Kashiki participated in "BYE BYE KITTY!!!" (curated by David Elliott) at Japan Society in New York and Yokohama Triennale.