Rei Kizumoto -Warmth in Communication-
February 17 (Sat) - March 8 (Fri), 2024
N project
N project is pleased to present ‘Warmth in Communication,’ a solo exhibition by Rei Kizumoto, from January 17 (Sat) to March 8 (Fri), 2024.
Rei Kizumoto (b. 1998), born in Shiga Prefecture, graduated from the master’s program in Fine Arts at Kyoto University of the Arts in 2023, specializing in oil painting in the field of fine arts and crafts. Currently based in Osaka, Kizumoto creates paintings using felt, a material strongly connected to the artist’s childhood memories. Cutting the material into random shapes, she then tosses them onto the floor and depicts the arbitrary shapes that appear on canvas.
For Kizumoto, felt serves as a material synonymous with playhouse toys or simple blocks of color and shape. By arranging and layering them, the artist depicts how simple forms, imbued with different meanings, shape the world. Kizumoto’s work is reminiscent of the countless “make-believe” moments that make up childhood play, where, for example, a single handkerchief can transform from a doll’s blanket into a bouquet in an instant. The varied shapes and colors of felt used in the creative process are recycled by the artist, gradually accumulating and appearing at different angles across various pieces. Assigned different roles in each work, felt adorns Kizumoto’s creations as a transformative entity that can “become anything,” from physical objects to abstract concepts.
There exists a concept within modern Western thought in which the world is dichotomized into subject/object, and we are considered to be beings alienated from the world as objects. From this viewpoint, one could say that the distinction between subject and object is blurred in Kizumoto’s pre-production ritual of selecting and tossing felt strips. The artist performs the act of conceptualizing a painting, which belongs to the subject, by interacting with the object, the felt. In doing so, the work presents an unclear image that remains emotionally ambiguous. This is not only a new perspective that can allow us to better understand the world, but also a new possibility for painting that transcends the existing framework of figuration and abstraction.
Referencing the series of rituals that make up the artist’s attempts to capture the world through her process of creation with felt, the exhibition is entitled ‘Warmth in Communication.’ The exhibition will feature her latest new works, including the 3.3 x 2.5m work “Floating Form” (2023), which was exhibited at the 3rd anonymous collection competition Special Award exhibition held in January 2024 at anonymous bldg. in Aoyama, Tokyo.
ARTIST
DATE
February 17(Sat) - March 8(Fri), 2024 Hours: Weekday 10:00-17:00 Saturday 11:00-18:00 *Closed on Sundays National Holidays, and March 5 (Tue)
VENUE