HISAKO SUGIYAMA

In 1982 Hisako Sugiyama graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts with a master’s in painting, and from 1987-90 she studied in Vienna under the renowned Austrian painter Arnulf Rainier at the Academy of Fine Arts. She returned to Japan in 1990 and ever since has been exhibiting around Japan, as well as Hong Kong, Korea, and back in Vienna.

Like her master, Sugiyama creates large-scale minimalistic and abstract paintings, using strong, intertwining geometric shapes, leaving behind a trail of conflicting perspectives. Although the surface is two-dimensional, viewing it from the side, or from other angles, creates differing impressions as the geometric shapes wind. However, creating such illusions in her work is not her ultimate aim, but rather it is employed for expressive purposes. In this way, she is challenging the traditional notion of how we view two-dimensional works. This becomes even clearer when seeing her sculptural works. Some from her exhibition Eklipse-Ellipse (2008) consist of wooden frames hung on the wall like paintings. Protruding from the frame are series of parallel rods of different lengths which create the illusion in the place where the painting would be of shapes made from only the negative space between the tips of the metal rods. These “shallow” sculptural pieces might be equivalent to relief carvings, and as you pass by them, their geometric form as well as their expression changes.

Eklipse-Ellipse also consisted of freestanding sculptures, many combining similar square frames placed on the gallery floor. The level of finish and perfectly parallel rods provide no distractions to the flawlessly-rendered invisible forms. At certain angles, some works show a complete sphere, but take a few paces and it appears to be nothing more than a confusion of straight lines. As the title of the exhibition suggests, Sugiyama likens this effect to a lunar eclipse. Some other works are more complex such as Rapunzel (2008), a sculpture consisting of sets of vertical rods, some painted black at a certain length to create a staggered staircase effect that continually appears and disappears as you circle around it.

Staircases—as well as towers and doors—are common motifs in Sugiyama’s work, due to their implications of human movement. Staircases and ladders in her works not only climb upwards, but also are laid on their side, showing that many more perspectives are always possible. Other sculptural works such as arc (2011) do not use the technique of using metal rods, and instead are sets of solid plywood shapes painted in colourful block colour laid on the gallery floor asking the viewer at what point the shape becomes visible. In whatever medium—painting, sculpture, and even drawings—Sugiyama seeks to make the intangible tangible, in beautifully structured and composed pieces that have an architectural elegance to them. In addition to their own intrinsic beauty, the spaces enable and showcase make them truly stand out.

Sugiyama has shown at museums and institutions including Museum Waidhofen, Vienna (2006), Gallery Prince Takamado, Canadian Embassy, Tokyo (2005), Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto (2004), Hiratsuka City Museum of Art, Kanagawa (2003), Kunsthalle, WUR, Vienna (1988).

Text by Ruben van Mansum