In this article on my other blog I explain about my photo in the Art Byte Critique Anniversary Exhbition, “10” and how it marks the beginning of my mushroom obsession.
Click the link to read more about my first foray into mushrooms and art.
Other Mushroom Art I’ve done
Here’s a quick annotated overview of some other mushroom pieces I’ve created:
MaiNichiMushroom Magazine series (zines): I wrote a middle grade mystery and serialized it in this zine series. There is a planned total of 15 issues. Each issue covers a different facet of mushrooms knowledge.
There are three stop-motion videos of displaying different books.
Macro photography of mushrooms: In this Art Byte Critique group exhibition called In The Details, I examined mushroom gills and how this tiny form reminded me of giant geographical features.
I love a peek behind the curtain. Art Byte Critique is having their tenth anniversary exhibition called “10” at Launch Pad Gallery in Yokohama.
I think installing a show is a lot of fun. A solo show can have a meditative feeling as long as everything goes to plan. 😉 But a group show has a totally different vibe. The energy of a group of people working together to achieve a vision in a short time can be addictive. Add the professionalism and teamwork of ABC members and art life is a lot of fun.
Art Byte Critique member Deanna Gabiga, who is doing intriguing wire sculptures, organized the show for us and did an amazing job! During the install, she also did the hard work of taking a time-lapse video which compressed the 2 hours into a five minute video.
Time Lapse Video of Art Byte Critique’s “10”
I wrote a blog post on my “official” website which you can check out here.
SHOW DETAILS
Launch Pad Gallery is less than 10 minutes away from Ishikawa Cho station on the Keihin Tohoku Negishi Line. But Launch Pad Gallery has more detailed information for other train lines. For those who like to do their own map navi, the street address is:
5-186-8 ISHIKAWACHO, YOKOHAMA 045-641-1511
FRI-MON 13:00~19:00/ 金-月 13:00-19:00 (the gallery is closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Starting an adventure tomorrow that will last the next three weeks. I’m keeping the location a surprise until I arrive.
I’m aiming for daily updates.
The owl will not be joining me on the trip but I find his stare really motivating. When I get tired I will always imagine this face encouraging me to get moving… or else!
This view greets me overtime I return to Onishi. The weather may change but the green and the water are always welcoming.
Onishi, Gunma has a great art residency program with Shiro Oni Studio. The studio and the town are really doing great things to support art. 2018 marks the fourth Kanna Art Matsuri. This festival also showcases the work by the artists in residence during that session. It’s a great time to relax, meet people and enjoy looking at and talking about art.
I really enjoyed the residents’ artist talks. In fact, I was so into what they were saying, I forgot to take photos!
As a past artist in residence and being a local-ish artist, I was invited to participate. This year I showed three pieces I took in Onishi during different visits. I printed on washi paper and mounted them on gessoed wood panel.
The chair scene and the glass of plum wine are from a summer I was writing haiku on the second floor of the Shiro Oni Studio’s repurposed old kimono shop called Kinuya.
My work just before taking it down.
The Kura of the old sake brewery that hosts Kana Arts Matsuri
I had a chance to continue my mushroom photo project after I helped with the deinstall. I appreciate the way Shiro Oni Studio gives different ways to work on one’s art practice and also experience nature.
Thanks Shiro Oni Studios and artists for the great art festival!
note: edited Nov 3rd, 2018 to put in the correct video–the Sanba River instead of the hedgehog video. Though hedgehog was pretty cute.
The Snowfences series was exhibited at The Neighbourhood and Coffee Starbucks Okusawa near Jiyugaoka Station in Tokyo for the month of July. This series had 13 photos ranging from A2 to A5 in size. They were printed on inkjet washi paper. Everything A3 and smaller was printed on Awagami Paper Factory’s Inbe inkjet print paper.
It was a thrill to see my work on the wall. Many thanks to the manager, Nakano-san and the staff who made the experience so wonderful. It’s a beautiful place to hang art.
The photo, Crescent Moon is probably my favourite in the series though I almost didn’t include it.
Most of the photos were taken during a trip through the Rocky Mountains in Idaho and Montana during stormy, almost white-out conditions so the majority of the work in the show is stormy white.
Later during the trip, the sky cleared to reveal this clear moon. This print will continue to be available on my shop.
Below are some photos from the exhibition and the last day. Thanks again Starbucks and Nakano-san for the wonderful experience!
Snowfences II
Cows in Winter
Photos in the back wall.
Night view of Starbucks 2-Chome branch and Crescent Moon inside.
It’s been a productive time behind the scenes and now the fun stuff! I have three exhibitions coming up in the next couple weeks. Two are group exhibitions and the other is my first SOLO show!
I’ll be posting more about each show in the future, but for now, this is the schedule.
Today Yuko Kamei shares her insights about the Tokyo Art Book Fair 2016 and working with Art Byte Critique group. This is the second in a series of interview with the ABC artists who participated in the TABF 2016.
Portrait of Yuko Kamei courtesy of the artist.
Yuko studied contemporary dance at Roehampton University, U.K. and received her MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2007. Her interest in body-based thinking led her to the legacy of post-modern dance in New York in the 1960s and 70s, especially Contact Improvisation. She learned how the laws of physics apply to human bodies and movements, and how musculoskeletal awareness influences abstract thinking. Seeking for ways to communicate kinesthetic wisdom learned through dancing, she finds photography to be ideal space in which to work.
Why did you want to participate in TABF?
I have been an artist book fan myself, and participation to TABF was something I’ve always wanted to do.
Thoughts Collection by Yuko Kamei
What kind of books did you produce?
This year I made a small A7 sized photocopy booklet with drawings which represents my key thoughts for the last 5 years of my artistic journey.
How did working with Art Byte Critique help you prepare your work?
To be honest I wouldn’t have been able to make it without being with ABC. I had this willingness of book-making all the time but when it comes to the content creation things get quite tough. For me, the get together became a good deadline for the initial sets of drawing, and warm and encouraging comments from ABC artists on that day fuelled me so much to finalise a book in the next 10 days.
What do you take away from this experience?
One thing I am happy about is the fact that I was able to make a book which is very meaningful to my own development. Secondly, I am feeling grateful to have such a supportive and inspirational individuals around me.
Thoughts Collection by Yuko Kamei (inside pages view)
What did you learn from the process of preparing for the show?
In terms of TABF display preparation, I was not able to do much due to my current job circumstances. So I just would like to thank you all for making it happen.
Why do you make books?
I like thinking about exhibitions, and I take books as one of such platforms. Structurally it has a distinct linearity but at the same time it can expand and collapse in area. Book format works for me sometimes to give a shape to my floating ideas.
This week’s photo challenge is harmony. I loved the sheet music image for the challenge post. Fascinating way to see someone’s creative thought.
I can play piano but I’m not really a musician so I was glad to see the other elements of harmony written in the challenge, “the quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole.”
And my first thought was cookies and coffee. Pairs that go together. I suppose that is more of a duet. Then I thought of photographing my yarns, exploring the harmonies in the color palettes.
Then I saw this image I took late last fall. I like the composition of the image, the consistent whole I see there. And though I prefer my photos to stand on their own merit, without having to explain the image, the harmony of this photo come from the fact that I took it while I was jogging around my neighbourhood. This is a cute little shrine not so far from my house but I had never seen it before.
The weather was pretty good, though a bit overcast, but I then fact that I could combine exercise, discovery and some photography is really an ultimate kind of harmony for me.
Marukobashi and the September 2015 Supermoon (and a bit of train blur)
It’s an unassuming little bridge connecting Kanagawa-Ken to southwestern Tokyo spanning the Tamagawa but Marukobashi has nice arches, a wide pedestrian walkway and some nice lighting. The fact that the sky is relatively open compared to the rest of Tokyo is makes it a logical choice for trying to capture the September supermoon while it was still low in the sky.
I ran home after work, packed my bag and cycled to the bridge. It wasn’t until I was half-way there that I remembered I would be cycling home in the dark and I’d forgotten my flashlight. Too late to turn back and since the fine is $500 for riding without a bike light (though not always enforced) the fact that my route went by two police stations meant I’d be walking my bike back. Luckily, that was the only mishap.
Timeanddate.com gave me the time and direction of moonrise. The compass app on my phone pointed me in the right direction. I crossed the bridge into Kanagawa, set up and waited. Sunday night was the eclipse and event though I couldn’t see it in Japan, I’d been pouring over the postings in Flickr and drooling with envy. I particularly liked a photo by Jeffrey Sullivan which was taken this April and you can see here. He was generous enough to give some great info on his shot and some technical aspects of photographing the moon. Somewhere during my perusing I learned about the 500 rule. The 500 rule helps you get nice crispy shots of the moon by determining the longest exposure you can make based on your lens before movement of the moon and the stars blurs the shot (assuming your tripod is sturdy).
500 Divided By the Focal Length of Your Lens = The Longest Exposure (in Seconds) Before Stars Start to “Trail”
There is a great explanation of this at Petapixel.
To my great relief, there were hardly any clouds on Monday compared to my shoot at Tateyama Castle in Chiba the night before. And when that moon peeped over Marukobashi, I was literally jumping up and down. Which required a quick explanation to a family walking past. And here are a few of my shots.
ghbourhood and Coffee Starbucks Okusawa near Jiyugaoka Station in Tokyo for the month of July. This series had 13 photos ranging from A2 to A5 in size. They were printed on inkjet washi paper. Everything A3 and smaller was printed on
The Spendy Pencil 