Blown by the wind, paint floats on the water surface, and the heat melts it down, alters its color and oxidizes the paint. It sinks to the bottom and accumulates.

Yoriko TAKABATAKE, October 2022

Since 2016, Yoriko Takabatake has set her painting process amongst the circulation of all things in nature, and started incorporating natural elements such as wind, water, fire and magnetism into her art practice. Takabatake has been exploring the relationship between paint and canvas through a scientific method of production that builds models and hypotheses based on the observation of her repeated studio experimentations with different materials and techniques. Upon preparing for this exhibition, the artist has taken further steps with which she looks into the inner part of Earth. Her new series of works titled 'CAVE' is inspired by her trip to Lascaux and nearby places in 2019 where the first paintings in human history were created in caves. In this series, Takabatake uses stucco as a painting medium, which turns into limestone as it absorbs CO2. Utilizing the characteristics of canvas that she has studied over the years, Takabatake applies various techniques such as punch needle, cuts, fulls, knots and wrinkles on her hemp cloth before submerging it into stucco. In this way, she has developed an artmaking method in which small particles are gradually deposited by gravity, and new forms are generated due to the interaction of the canvas and material – similar to how stalactites are formed.

During a visit to the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus, Takabatake also noticed water marks from the inflow of seawater into the mound and the colors created by the oxidation of metals in the rocks. This exhibition will also feature a series of works in which the artist repeatedly submerges canvas into liquid in order to create colored layers on canvas, utilizing natural metallic pigments such as ochre, red iron oxide and greenish blue.

Given the fact that the fundamental theme of Takabatake's work has always been recursive and incorporated physical phenomena on Earth to generate works of art in this world, it is easy to understand how this theme has been embodied in the aforementioned wind, water, and other forms. For Takabatake, the reality of these concepts must be her body of work.

Takabatake possesses the speciality in her ability to culminate immense scientific ambition into the painting format and transfer it to a viewing experience. As if they were born on this planet thanks to various environmental and accidental elements, her paintings display a strong existence as independent organisms along with their spatial depth and evoke the viewers' imagination. We are looking forward to seeing you at the exhibition.

Press release courtesy ShugoArts.