Performance art at NEPO 5K Seattle, WA
Artist Statement
While studying art in Japan, I became interested in Ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese art that was popular in Japan from the 17th to 20th century. Often translated as “scenes from the floating world,” Ukiyo-e was popular with many in Japan because of its mass-produced use of woodblock prints.
This popularity also stemmed from the oft-depicted scenes of fleeting beauty and pleasure both from the realm of nature and from that of society. I was also greatly influenced by the western tradition of art and have been fascinated by my experience of coming from a small fishing town in Japan to Seattle.
Such experiences have led me to find a way to express the often fleeting beauty of the modern world.
In my work, I experiment with the interplay between the material world and the “floating world” but with a more modern take on the “floating world”. I start with a material object such as a canvas.
I then take a digital picture, manipulate that image, print it, and overlay it onto the surface.
Finally, I incorporate industrial materials such as spray paint or string to give the object a sense of being both two and three dimensional. In this way I attempt to create a world that is both alien and familiar where one exists both within and outside of us.
While studying art in Japan, I became interested in Ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese art that was popular in Japan from the 17th to 20th century. Often translated as “scenes from the floating world,” Ukiyo-e was popular with many in Japan because of its mass-produced use of woodblock prints.
This popularity also stemmed from the oft-depicted scenes of fleeting beauty and pleasure both from the realm of nature and from that of society. I was also greatly influenced by the western tradition of art and have been fascinated by my experience of coming from a small fishing town in Japan to Seattle.
Such experiences have led me to find a way to express the often fleeting beauty of the modern world.
In my work, I experiment with the interplay between the material world and the “floating world” but with a more modern take on the “floating world”. I start with a material object such as a canvas.
I then take a digital picture, manipulate that image, print it, and overlay it onto the surface.
Finally, I incorporate industrial materials such as spray paint or string to give the object a sense of being both two and three dimensional. In this way I attempt to create a world that is both alien and familiar where one exists both within and outside of us.
About work
Ukigumo (Japanese for “floating clouds”) and Ohana (Japanese for “flowers”) uses industrial materials finished with a tsutsumi (Japanese wrapping) mylar surface. Because the colorful lines are actually three-dimensional objects embedded within the piece, a viewer’s eye moves with the abstract expressionist lines between different levels--both on the flat surface and beyond it.
By using airy and playful colors, this piece evokes a floating cloud and flowers with pink colors undertones at sunset. The organic, curving lines further emphasize the cloud’s depth and softness.
Ukigumo (Japanese for “floating clouds”) and Ohana (Japanese for “flowers”) uses industrial materials finished with a tsutsumi (Japanese wrapping) mylar surface. Because the colorful lines are actually three-dimensional objects embedded within the piece, a viewer’s eye moves with the abstract expressionist lines between different levels--both on the flat surface and beyond it.
By using airy and playful colors, this piece evokes a floating cloud and flowers with pink colors undertones at sunset. The organic, curving lines further emphasize the cloud’s depth and softness.
Solo Exhibition: Ukigumo "floating clouds" Bryan Ohno Gallery 2014
Artist Studio
