Initiated from the educational field at Kyoto University of the Arts in 2020, the collaboration between the artist unit Yuki Tawada and Fuku Fukumoto has continuously explored the shared language and sensibilities between photography and ceramics. While expanding the potential of each medium, their ongoing dialogue has pursued new possibilities for artistic expression. In this exhibition, the artist unit will create an interactive installation featuring new collaborated works that combine photography and ceramics. In addition to collaborative pieces, individual works by each artist will also be on view.
Deeply rooted in the essence of photography, Yuki Tawada’s practice explores and engages in a form of communication from a realm distinct from everyday life. Drawing on research in art therapy and folk beliefs, she employs a unique approach that involves physical interventions—such as scraping or burning the surface of photographs. Her works often include elements of the ‘other’ drawn from matrilineal ideologies, and investigates new relationships while uncovering layers of memory from intimate human connections. In doing so, she pushes beyond the boundaries of photography, painting, and sculpture, attempting to reclaim the aura and mystical power stored within a photograph.
Fuku Fukumoto is an artist whose practice, rooted in ceramics, seeks to explore expressions that transcend conventional boundaries. Known for her delicate and subtle glazing techniques, she draws out warmth and softness from the typically rigid and cold nature of porcelain, creating a unique, ambivalent beauty. Through a shaping process that embraces the distortions occurring during firing, she produces unique works where intention and serendipity coexist, resulting in pieces with distinct and singular expressions.
This exhibition will feature the experimental installation "The Scent of the Sky." This work presents a form of art that transforms through the engagement of various viewers, embracing their interventions as part of its evolution. The final state and moment of completion are left to the discretion of the collector, establishing a structure where ownership itself becomes an integral part of the artistic process. In doing so, the work challenges conventional notions of boundaries and the ontology of the artwork.
Yuki Tawada
Born in 1978 in Shizuoka. After graduating from a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, Tohoku University (Miyagi, Japan), she then pursued Photography at University of the Arts, London, Camberwell College of Arts (London, UK). In 2011, she completed her Doctorate degree for Inter-Media Art at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo, Japan). Major exhibitions include ‘I’M SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE JAPANESE WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM THE 1950S TO NOW’, Les Rencontres d'Arles (Arles, France) 2024; ‘Seeing as through Touching: Contemporary Japanese Photography vol.19’, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan), 2022; ‘The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2020’, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan), 2020; ‘NEW PLANET PHOTO CITY : William Klein and Photographers Living in the 22nd Century’, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (Tokyo, Japan) 2018, and many others. She has also participated in numerous domestic and international art fairs.
Fuku Fukumoto
Born in 1973, in Kyoto. Graduated from the Department of Crafts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of Arts in 1997. Completed the graduate program at the same university in 1999. In 2019, she completed her Doctoral degree from the same university with the dissertation titled "Nature and Artifice in Ceramic Sculpture: The 'Awai' of 'Onozukara' and 'Mizukara'." In 2001, established a studio in Kyoto. Since then, has presented works in solo and group exhibitions, museum-curated shows, and art fairs both domestically and internationally. Awards include The Grand Prize, Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition (2001), Grand Prize at the Kyoto Prefecture Fine Arts and Crafts New Artist Selection Exhibition (2002), Shinjin Prize (Most Promising Young Talent) in Fine Art Division of The Gotoh Commemorative Culture Award (2003), Kyoto City Artistic New Comer Award (2008), Incentive Prize of The Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize (2012) and others. In 2004, received a grant from the Gotoh Memorial Foundation and undertook a year-long study tour across the United States and Europe. Public collections include The Museum of Kyoto (Japan), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY, USA), The Harn Museum of Art (FL, USA), Portland Art Museum (OR, USA), Musée Guimet (Paris, France).
