trash neko

[trashneko]

Review

This was a selection of artists and artworks that I’ve had recent interests in and both influences and informs my own art practice. With my own artistic interests in taking traditional East Asian visual culture and creating contemporary interpretations, I guide my research in this direction.

A major part of my research and search for inspiration is done online, which is evident in the blog posts below. My methods of research also adds to how I and many other viewers interact with the work, as well as how the artists controls the promotion of their work. Unlike the more traditional method of viewing artworks within a gallery space I perhaps prefer to viewing them on social media platforms, mostly Instagram.

Instagram as an online gallery space itself allows you to see the comments of other viewers. The posts are also fully controlled by the artist themselves and they very often show you snippets of their process and sketches. Very active accounts with a high number of followers usually post in an incredibly purposeful curated way. James Jean has 1.1 million followers on Instagram with many of his posts showing behind the scenes of his exhibitions, working process and interview snippets.

Another reason why many of my blog posts source Instagram is because of how it allows you to explore the community of artists that do similar work with ease. You can see which artists follow who and networking that comes about just through their online profiles.

The Instagram community is heavily referenced through my selection of artists and artworks, though another strong pattern is the East Asian diasporic themes. In particular the contemporary exploration of these themes with even just the last ten years being very different to the past. As an Australian-Chinese born in the late 90’s I’ve experienced the boom of East Asian pop culture into western countries within my Asia Australian community.

My community of Asian Australians have such a hunger to consume contemporary Asian culture, in particular the products coming out of South Korea, China and Japan. This wave of culture can even be seen by the increasing number of Asian beauty stores, bubble tea stores and Korean street food found just in Melbourne.

This recent phenomenon is only just now being expressed in the fine art world. Which is why many of these artists are born in the 80’s – 90’s. I believe its also that transitioning period of cultural change that also attracts us to also draw from traditional visual culture.

The dossier allows me to think more about what is visually and thematically important to me, as well as looking at what has really shaped my interests at a sociocultural perspective. A question that I’m still trying to figure out is why I’m so attracted to contemporary East Asian pop culture and why it has become so important to the Asian diasporic youth identity.

As well as  moving forwards with this new information I’m sure that I want to continue to take these interests in creating new artforms. This also makes me think about what things in my art practice that I am looking at leaving behind, in particular what parts of traditional East Asian visual culture am a really interested in and is important to me. 

[trashneko]

Reika Iijima 

3 rice balls (2022)

Meat bun (2022) 

Sweet sesame bun (2022)

Japanese food culture is internationally renowned, 

Iijima displays the comfort and nostalgia of Japanese food culture in her sculptural pieces. 

[trashneko]

silllllllllllll.da (as known on instagram)

I need hand cream (2021)

Farewell Waltz - Chopin (2021)

Untitled (2021)

silllllllllllll.da is one of many many digital artists that are only known by their online identity on social media platforms. 

They combine traditional East Asian components to their digital work, to a point where it is difficult to discern if the work is traditionally or digitally painted. It’s a contemporary surrealist image combined with Asian visuals, iconography and exaggerated colours and tones taken from traditional paintings. 

In particular it simulates the textures and grain of an image painted on a physical material. They could have kept it flat and smooth for a more graphic image but this was chosen to reinforce the traditional themes in these contemporary pieces. 

[trashneko]

James Jean

Garden (BTS Seven Phases) 2021

Woodcutter (2021) marble and gold

A lot about James Jean’s art practice can be told through his audience and clientele. His art is incredibly well regarded within the Asian diaspora community, in particular that of Asian-Americans. 

Jean is a Taiwanese-American artists with much of his work referring to Japanese Shintoism (which was well established in Taiwan during its time under Japanese rule). There are many examples of traditional Japanese architecture and culture still in Taiwan. 

His recent work ‘Garden’ was done for BTS (Bangtan Boys), possibly the most popular Korean boy band at an international level. 

[trashneko]

Ryoichi Aizawa “Plan to Annihilation” 

Shinjuku Ophthalmologist Gallery  2021/11/19-12/01

Aizawa’s work playfully combines Japanese illustration, installation and contemporary art, which is rarely seen in international galleries. 

It’s so interesting that contemporary Japanese illustration and the manga and anime style is literally everywhere in Japanese media, that it almost becomes the default aesthetic. This is especially seen in Tokyo, where you can find the style of drawing in from the street vending machine to the side of their skyscrapers. 

Which is why it is even more interesting to me to see its form expressed in contemporary art. Especially in a sculptural and installation form, when we usually see it in digital forms. 

[trashneko]

Haruko Ichikawa

Houseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) 2012-2020

I was first introduced to this Houseki no Kuni, or it’s English title: Land of the lustrous, through its anime series (released in 2017). Because it used cgi I was doubtful if I could sit through an episode without cringing. The anime scene, up to that point had disappointed me with its experimentation of the cgi method, creating awkward and mechanical character movements.

The anime went on to really wow me with its’ 12 episode run. The stylization of the cgi created a great interpretation of the manga along with the colour choices and the score. After finishing up 12 episodes I went and got myself a few volumes of the manga, which was during the time I adored fine, fluid lines with the use of negative and positive space. 

I was completely mesmerised by Ichikawa’s illustrative style, the elegance of the characters and the use of empty space. This use of empty space was then used to create refreshingly clear and open landscapes in the anime adaptation. Ichikawa’s work also influenced my own illustrative style and attempt at creating a graphic novel. 

It was only later on that I was interested in the Buddhist references in Land of the Lustrous. In particular its role within the narrative, as it is set it the distant future with gem life forms on Earth in opposition with the Lunarians (residents of the moon). The visual depiction of the Lunarians reference the image of buddhas and bodhisattva, although the Lunarians ironically represent unknown evil and corruption. 

The main character Phos, also attains new body parts throughout the story, resembling the seven treasure of Buddhism (aquamarine, coral/agate, gold, silver, crystal/pearl, lapis lazuli, and ruby). I love how it draws from these Buddhist influences in creating this science fiction piece, feeling incredibly new and fresh while referencing traditional icons. 

[trashneko]

Shingo Tamagawa

Puparia (2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnqX41JHuM

From the get-go it was clear that ‘Puparia’ was a passion project that displayed Tamagawa’s technical prowess and love for anime in this short film. Japan’s anime industry is notorious for overworking and underpaying it’s staff, in a desperate grip to meet the demands of time and budget throughout the making of each episode.  While we see the same directors being featured for the animated movies, we rarely take a look at the work of individual animators. Which was why it was truly refreshing to see this project by Tamagawa.

As cgi in not just anime but the global animation industry becomes increasingly popular, the hand drawn technique becomes a rarity. In ‘Puparia’, Tamagawa really captures the beauty of the technique with such detail, distinct use of colour and imagination. As a solo film, you can really feel the dedication to his craft in the incredibly refined movements and imagery.

Although the background art is visually stunning with its detail, hand drawn textures and vivid colours and contrast, it’s the character design that truly captures my attention. Tamagawa creates a certain energy through the gazes of the characters within the short film. The unspoken gaze directing to the audience holds a strong mysterious cosmic energy, both of horror and wonder.

Tamagawa also talked about his process and purpose in the short documentary on the making of ‘Puparia’ by Archipel, made after the immediate viewing success of the film on Youtube (linked below).

What was interesting was that he talked about his motivations of wanting to take a breath out of the consumerist nature of anime. Specifically he said that anime is consumerist in nature, which I’d have to agree with looking at how it’s so cemented within Otaku culture (otaku, popularly referring to people with a consuming interest in anime, manga, video games etc.). 

The outcome of this nature makes ‘us’ (anime viewers) seasonally sift through dozens of ‘trash’ shows and waiting for something that truly showcases the potential of the anime medium. Which is what Puparia achieved for me in expressing the beauty and the craft that is the anime art form. 

Archipel: Shingo Tamagawa - Three Minutes, Three Years: Making Puparia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKsG3E7TLl4&t=144s

[trashneko]

Narume Mei

2017-2022

https://www.instagram.com/narumemei/?hl=en

Mei’s work combines 90′s nostalgia, Japanese school girls and bishoujo (beautiful girl) games in depicting the modern phenomenon of artificial love. If you aren’t familiar with bishoujo games, they are a subgenre of dating sims; story based Japanese video games generally focused on the male protagonist’s interactions with cute girls. These types of games were incredibly popular in the 90′s.

For the opposite gender, we have Otome games, where a female protagonist interacts with multiple male characters, which were popular in my social group during high-school. With the games being available to download on our mobile phones, we would share our progress and the different story routes that we chose. 

Though the character created by Mei looks cute and innocent enough there is an undeniable sinister undertone to her works. It’s done through not only the deep blue tones, the pixel art suggesting a digital cage, with digital code wrapping around the character, but also the fetishization of Japanese school girls in sailor uniforms and antisocial ‘Hikikimori’ trends within modern Japanese society. 

The ‘hikikimori’, being the socialcultural mental health phenomenon which commonly refers to reclusive teens and young adults being unable to attend school or work, withdrawing from society living in their parents’ home and spending most to all of their time online. 

You can take the work as simply cute 90′s nostalgia but I think that there will always be those more intricate sociocultural issues within the work. Somehow even with the retro visual references to her work, it feels incredibly contemporary and contextual.