hardline organics

source: yukinakamura

collaboration with craig miller

Hardline Organics is an immersive and transformative installation. Keying in on the concept of absurd optimism, the gallery is an interactive space alive with object, sound and projection. The idea of absurd optimism plays off the ideal of futurism we grew up with, melded with our own current artistic sensibilities. The altered space is a new world of our own creation, with architectural elements that invite the viewer to explore the space and the future that is now. The work is an exciting collaboration between the artists, ambitious in concept, design and realization.
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source: soilartorg

Hardline Organics Part Two – a tale of absurd optimism is an immersive and transformative installation. Keying in on the concept of absurd optimism the gallery is an interactive space alive with; object, sound and projection. The idea of absurd optimism plays off the ideal of futurism we grew up with, melded with our own current artistic sensibilities. The altered space is a new world of our own creation, with architectural elements that invite the viewer to explore the space and the future that is now. The work is an exciting collaboration between the artists, ambitious in concept, design and realization. A not to be missed exhibition that only SOIL can deliver.

Hardline Organics will make manifest SOIL’s mission in the form of an exhibition. This will be an opportunity to emphasize SOIL’s commitment to presenting the work of challenging art regardless of commercial viability and increase the public appreciation and understanding of contemporary art. This project will also bring together past and present SOIL members between 1995 and Present.
Hardline Organics Part One took place at SOIL Backspace Gallery in January 2006. Artists created different elements and then other artists were invited to attach their own additions much like the Surrealist notion of the exquisite corpse.

Hardline Organics is supported in part from 4Culture Arts Special Projects Program grant.

Participating Artists
All 5 participating artists in Hardline Organics are past and present SOIL members and work with multi and mixed media creating large scale installations:

Craig Miller (membership 1995-2000) is a lead curator for Hardline Organics. He is one of the original SOIL founders and has been involved in multiple shows at SOIL, including: Inside the Lining of the Erikson Building (1997) (transformed SOIL’s, soon-to-be-demolished building, into an interior of breathing architecture) and 6 Really Great Round Beakers (2001) (transformed SOIL’s third space, cellular and intimate, into a laboratory). Miller is a multi-disciplinary artist with a background of Architecture and Urban Design.

Yuki Nakamura (1998-current) is a co-curator for Hardline Organics. Nakamura is a Japanese-born sculptor focused on using ceramic medium to create sculptural and installation pieces relating to physical spaces. Her upcoming projects include a collaboration project the 2006 New Works Laboratory organized by the 911 Media Arts Center and the Henry Art Gallery and a solo show at Peeler Art Center in Spring 2007 (DePauw University, IN). Nakamura is the recipient of the Joshibi Excellent Work and Research Fellowship (Tokyo), the Artist Trust Fellowship (Seattle, WA) and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (New York). Other honors for Nakamura have included residencies at Novara Arte Cultula (Italy), La Napoule Art Foundation (France) as well as Centrum Creative Residency (Port Townsend, WA). Nakamura is represented by Howard House Contemporary Art (Seattle, WA).

Etsuko Ichikawa (2004-current) is a Tokyo born visual artist. Her work is a continuing investigation of what lies between the ephemeral and the eternal, and psychology has been her primary source of inspiration. Her recent and upcoming projects include a large-scale installation at Bumbershoot in September 2005, a scenic design for Degenerate Art Ensemble at the Moore Theatre in March 2006, and a solo show at Gallery4Culture in April 2007. She is a recipient of PONCHO Artist in Residence awards and 4Culture Arts Special Projects grants, and is a member of SOIL Artist Collective.

Saya Moriyasu (1996-1998, 2006-current) has worked on collaborative art installations at the Bellevue Art Museum, SOIL and Gallery4Culture. Her inspirations range from interior design, consumerism to the natural world. Collaborative projects are a way to expand and meld ideas with other artists to create unique experiences. Saya’s studio work is created by making individual art pieces out of clay and placing them together to create a single sculpture. She has had solo exhibitions at Platform Gallery, Richard Hugo House, and SOIL. In Fall 2006, she has a solo exhibition at Gallery4Culture.

Jenny Heishman (2000-2002) has been living and working as a sculptor in Seattle since completing graduate school at Ohio University in 1999. She was a member of SOIL Artist Cooperative for two years from 2000 until 2002. Her solo exhibit at SOIL, air space, received critical reviews in local publications as well as the national Sculpture Magazine. In 2000, she was an emerging artist resident at Atlantic Center for the Arts with Charles Ray and Jennifer Pastor and in fall of 2005 was in residence at Pilchuck School of Glass. Jenny is the recipient of both a GAP grant and the 4Culture artist Special Projects Grant. She is represented by Howard House Contemporary, Seattle, WA.
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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.