Rieko Fujinami

Master Course: Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan (1986)

Media: etching, copper tempera, frottage/drawing, fresco secco, glass painting, digital imaging

PRIZES

1998 Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, Best Art of the Year Selection

1995 International UMORISMO ARTE Biennial, Italy. Prize Citta di Tolentio

1990 Kanagawa Modern Art Museum, Purchase Prize, Cultural Affairs Agency, Cash Grant

1988 Japan Modern Representational Print Art Exhibition, Grand Prix

1987 Miyako Print Grand Prix

1987-1996 Accepted, CWAJ Print Exhibition

Published widely in Japan, including Monthly Art, Nikkei Art, Hanga Geijutsu, Weekly Sincho, Mephisto Magazine.

Commercial work includes book Illustrations, book covers, CD covers, set designs.

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Our physical forms will be destroyed through the flow of nature and society, but I want to believe that our existence will unquestionably survive in our “spirits”.

I have pursued my desire and conviction that there is an immortal spirit, by alternating exhibits with two rather different themes. I have entitled these two themes “Exploration of Non-Existence” and “Azilt” (from the Hebrew word meaning “overflow”).

The “Exploration of Non-Existence” questions the existence of living things. I begin by asking whether a living thing, which I perceive, or which is generally perceived as visually existing, actually does exist in the physical form in which it is seen. Then, by liberating it from its physical form, I look to find its essence, and then describe it in my work.

“Azilt” is my attempt to take into myself the archetypal memories locked inside objects. I don’t try to seize on the objective existence and appearance of a thing. Rather, I try to grasp the latent existence with which the object describes itself through its history of interaction with people, and through their memories of it. My own deep consciousness and memories react with this latent existence, and the results of this interaction flow into my work.

With both of these approaches, I strive to express the non-physical spirit in a physical way in my art.

I believe that the way I handle space in my work may be rather unique. I am not attempting to express space by merely showing the juxtaposition of two items. Rather, I believe that the space in which the object exists is created by the spiritual energy emitted by the object, so that space is created from the object itself. This is a reflection of my single-minded focus on the object my art seeks to describe.

In my work, whether the subject is a person or a plant, I do not try to make comparisons by describing how the object sits in relation with other objects, or how its color differs from the colors of other objects. Instead, I give the object its existence in my work, and describe the space around it as I think it should be.