red stair

source: yukinakamura

red stair by fionn meade

The notion of fashion as transgressive is so well-worn it has become a cliché. There is constant pressure to outmode, jump forward or reach back. Though showing one’s individuality is done in part through adornment and flourish, trespass has become the new order, and increasingly,
the body is as likely to be altered as the hemline. Red Stair represents a departure for Nakamura. The dictates of strict form and negation are still present, as are a number of warning signs in keeping with her style — field of red, evening gown formality, blank visage. Superimposing geometry on the human figure is not a new idea; fashion designers such as Rei Kawakubo and performance director Robert Wilson, among others, have done so to wonderful effect. What is new, however, is the refinement of the invitation. The train of a dress is replaced with a staircase, a kind of overture to trespass. Are we to approach or keep our distance? From trespasses on the body, the viewer’s ascent/glance is pushed back from the figure even as it runs to it. We are deflected from desiring the human body just as we are compelled to contemplate it. The sculptural form declines our embrace as the invitation is extended and then revoked.
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source: neoimagesnet

Since moving from Shikoku Island, Japan to Seattle in 1995, I have been creating sculptural installations – with ceramic as my primary medium – that emphasize the relationship between concept, form and space. I create my work by pushing the envelope of ceramic medium and turning limitations upside down into new possibilities, as media for my own voice. My work challenges the aesthetic restraint of my traditional cultural roots through active experimentation with new media and contemporary issues: cross-cultural, multi-faceted contemporary sculptural forms that reflect and challenge our specific time, place, culture, and social environment. My work reflects how time and space change in synch with our constantly evolving environment. I consider both the macro and micro worlds and how they shift within the internal, human and subjective perspective, how they become increasingly confused, chaotic and full of turmoil. My work questions the tenuous connection between the two worlds; the internal subjective self and the external world of cultural façade.
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source: youmaga

昨年秋に行われた、毎年恒例の音楽イベント「バンバーシュート」では、THREADというアート総合会社とのコラボの一環として一風変わったファッション・ショーを開催。中村由紀さん自身が“Red Stair（赤い階段）”と題された作品を身にまとい、モデルとして参加しました。いつもアイディアに溢れていて、チャレンジ精神旺盛、次に何が飛び出すかわからない……。地元現代アーティストのコミュニティーの中でも、率先してプロジェクトをリードする、多面的な顔を持ち合わせた作家です。

香川県に生まれ、女子美術大学工芸科で陶芸を専攻。教授がニューオーリンズで開いた展覧会でアシスタントを務めたことをきっかけに、海外に出たいという気持ちが高まり、ワシントン大学院芸術科に入学します。大学院で陶芸を学び、卒業後はすぐにSOIL（ソイル：ギャラリーの企画・運営をする、20人ほどのアーティスト集団）のメンバーに。現在、SOILの過去10年間の歴史を盛り込んだ本の出版（2005年出版予定）に、リーダーとして取り組んでいる最中とか。
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source: artbeasties

I create sculptural installations with ceramics as my primary medium that explore a sense of place, relationship, identity and formal structure. My work challenges the aesthetic restraint of my traditional cultural roots through active experimentation with new media and contemporary issues: cross-cultural, multi-faceted contemporary sculptural forms that reflect and challenge our specific time, place, culture, and social environment. I consider both the macro and micro worlds and how they shift within the internal, human and subjective perspective, how they become increasingly confused, chaotic and full of turmoil. My work questions the tenuous connection between the two worlds; the internal subjective self and the external world of cultural façade.

Yuki Nakamura graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo in 1994, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of Washington in 1997. She has had solo exhibitions at Peeler Art Center, DePauw University in Greencastle, SOIL Gallery in Seattle and Howard House Contemporary Art in Seattle. Her multimedia collaborations have been featured at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Santa Fe International New Media Festival and Kittredge Gallery in Tacoma. Her work has been reviewed in international art magazines, such as Ceramics Monthly, Art in America, Whitewall and Sculpture Magazine. She has also been awarded numerous prestigious awards including the Pollock-Krasner Grant, Artist Trust Fellowship, and the Joshibi Creative and Research Fellowship. She has participated in multinational artist-in-residence programs in France, Italy, Japan and the US. Her work is part of the Tacoma Art Museum permanent collection, the Microsoft collection, and the Swedish Cancer Institute collection.