Magnified Pre Covaid-19
Kakogawa heavy Industry
Mixed media
Waterford watercolour paper 300g
9 .5 cm h x 9 cm w
Living in heavily
industrialised Hyogo Prefecture, Japan one may not tend to think of it as a
beautiful place but for me it is and it was normal for me to drive around by
myself through the back blocks of Akashi, stopping for lunch in the car before
the state of emergency.
How often I would
park the car in the middle of some heavily industrialized port-side area or
within urbanised rice growing farming terrains, enjoying strange aesthetic sensations
that resonated from geographies encountered.
Magnified Corona Virus Domestic View Nishi Ku Kobe no 1
Mixed media
Waterford watercolour paper 300g
Waterford watercolour paper 300g
148 mm x 100 mm
Especially the winter/spring of Japan with the
wonderful plum trees blossoming not long after the cherry blossoms start cascading over
the parks, roads and footpaths with a beautiful aroma coming from the flowers
whilst taking digital photographs that I use as an aide mémorie to create
ideas for artworks back in studio, this was a normal modus operandi within my painting and drawing studio work.
All these aforementioned memories,
coupled the state of emergency within the Hyogo Prefecture have now affected in
some way or another what I choose to paint or draw nowadays and it appears into the near future.
.
Currently, I am trying to maintain
my studio praxis through the taking of digital images from my small
apartment veranda views, high above ground then magnifying them on my
computer screen but things have changed, I can’t smell the flowers or say hello
to people in the street in going for a walk at any time, no eating at
restaurants or meeting people, so my normal routine has been altered.
However, I still hope to reveal the
stunning kaleidoscope of subtle distant hues of Kansai landscape from this high rise
position with its half tints, contrasts, and textures seen from buildings, islands, the inland sea,
industry, urbanised areas, rice fields, mountains, clouds, sky, tops of trees
in this Japanese spring, please enjoy the changed studio praxis.
