About [Love: Beyond Time and Space]

(In Japanese 日本語)

Updated on December 10
*The list/description of each artwork from Beyond Time and Space series was uploaded.
The artwork “Cry for Love” is on view at Las Laguna Art gallery in California in December, 2023.

About LOVE: Beyond Time and Space 　

In the solo exhibition at the gallery Roonee 247 Fine Arts in fall 2023, I present the entire work for the first time from Part 1 “Cry for LOVE – What Women Feel,” and most works from Part 2 and Part 3 including latest new works, and a sneak peek from Part 4 in my Truth in Emotion, Beyond Time and Space series.
*The list/description of each artwork from Beyond Time and Space series can be seen here.

Over 50 artworks from the series are exhibited at the gallery at the solo show. You will see many different types of artworks from the same series!

Part 1: Cry for LOVE – What Women Feel –
Part 2: Cry for LIFE
Part 3: Four Seasons
Part 4: Cry for LOVE – What Men Feel –

The body of my work reflects my interest in human life as a journey. It is a deep examination of our soul and emotions. The work explores universal experiences such as sorrow, loneliness, frustration, disillusion, and turmoil (darkness) as well as peace, joy, hope, and love (light) – It is a metaphor for our lives.

People today love and suffer just as in ancient times. Linked by our humanity, we face many of the same feelings and issues. It truly is beyond time and space.

For this project, the collection of 7th-13th century Japanese poems (known as *Hyakunin Isshu: 100 poems by 100 authors) was re-written in calligraphy by my father, a calligraphy master in Japan, before his passing using the original ancient characters (Hentai-gana), which is variant forms of Hiragana in the Heian Period (794-1185), and they are re-written on traditional Japanese rice paper for this project.

I have been creating art layering and integrating BOTH ancient/traditional AND contemporary/hi-tech elements by combining encaustic which is an ancient medium and other mediums as well as my photographic images in each unique piece in this series. The photographs are actual evidence of our 21st century, conveying and depicting the same human emotions in different times and spaces.

The images in my work, for example, the mountains, bamboo, trees, textures of doors and walls, and cherry blossoms, may resemble Japan. However, I intentionally used materials from non-Japanese places due to my series concept ‘ beyond time and space ‘. Meanwhile, I invested my own emotional content and imagination into these poems and works.

As Japanese, we were told to memorize those Waka poems in school when we were children—mostly without knowing the meaning of each poem, as the language is archaic.

As an adult, I realized and felt very moved that these ancient poems contain deep and passionate human emotions, especially the love poems since they contrast the perception that Japanese people tend to be reserved and do not show much emotion.

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🔸Part 1: Cry for LOVE – What Women Feel –

The artworks in the Part 1 is based exclusively on desperate love poems/letters regarding women’s feeling by female authors from the Hyakunin isshu waka poem. They were created with the research and the inspiration from a total of 20 love poems, three of which were composed by men posing as women and expressing women’s feelings from female perspective.

*Self-portrait is used as representing women while I invest my own emotional content. I consider using self-portrait is one of my styles since I have self-portraits-related works in previous series as well.

(In total: 25 unique artworks of Encaustic mixed media on cradled wood panels + 3 works of photo encaustic on plexiglass are presented.)

※ The title and the description of each artwork with The original ancient Japanese poems and the English translation is available upon request. Please ask the gallery staff. I will post them here in the future.

🔸Part 2: Cry for LIFE

The artworks in Part 2 is based exclusively on the ancient poems about life from this collection (Hyakunin Isshu). Surprisingly, they are all or mostly lamenting and wrote about life in vain.

10 poems (#34, #83, #84, #66, #11, #99, #68, #96, #93 and #35) out of 100 were categorized in relating to LIFE.

One of the three panels of “Cry for LIFE I – Lamentation (Triptych)” a large-scale work of three wooden panels measuring approximately 1.5 meters long, excluding the two panels in the U.S, will be exhibited, In addition, the latest work from this summer 2023, Works on Paper (Scrolls and Kimono Tanmono textile style) are in the installation on hanging scrolls and garment racks.

Interestingly, the life-themed content of these classical Japanese waka poems (One Hundred Poems of One Hundred Poets, Hyakunin Isshu) is almost entirely about the sorrows of life and lamentation for living in this world. On the other hand, in the Bible, which is a Western classic, I discovered the same emptiness, grief, or lamentation that we face in life were described, however, the answers and solutions were already written there beyond lamentation. It gives us hope.

The installation “Time for Everything” hanging on the wooden space divider on the floor and “Works on Paper” on the hanging scroll on the wall can be viewed at the gallery.

You will see the “Time for Everything,” a Tanmono kimono-textile-like work created this summer, which are “Works on rice paper” in which the backs and fronts have different expressions.

Other works on fine art paper, which uses a hanging scroll as a frame, are also one-of-a-kind abstract paintings.

I created both of them using the “encaustic monotype (printmaking technique).”

Encaustic monotypes are created by painting with wax paint (encaustic) on a heated palette, and then transferring the melted or melting paint onto paper right away. The paint moves and changes in various ways depending on the temperature of the palette and from moment to moment. This method allows for some control, but not complete control.

In the process of patiently applying color to a very long sheet of paper, unexpected things happen. There are difficulties and hardships, and there are also “happy accidents.” It is just like the journey of life itself.

In this new work, in addition to Waka poems of life, I created the work with the books of ”Lamentations” and “Ecclesiastes” from the Bible in my mind, which tells us that everything in the world is “vain,” yet there is a time for everything, and furthermore, draws a conclusion to the purpose of life. They are abstract paintings/monotype with some collages.

With an awareness of the SDGs of our current society, the antique hanging scrolls are used as a “frame” for the works on paper as being creatively reused and to adding values. As for the blue scroll, I cut the window which allows you to see beyond and the other side.

The cross-like shape of the way displayed the artwork and hanging scroll also represents the well-known Western symbol of LOVE.

-木製パネルにエンコースティック・ミクストメディアの “Lamentation” の一部と “Journey.” 2015年〜2017年
–Works on Paper｜無酸性和紙にエンコースティック・ミクストメディア: 巻紙風、掛軸に. 2017年〜2023年

–Works on Paper｜無酸性アート紙、和紙にエンコースティック・モノタイプ、コラージュ: 反物風) 2023年

🔸Part 3: “Four Seasons

Among the Hyakunin Isshu waka poems, poems composed about the four seasons are collected and made into works.

Although these poems are about the awareness and emotions experienced during the actual seasons, to me, seasons are not merely about the actual scenery of spring, summer, fall, and winter, but also about the seasons of life, the good times, bad times, and the times of sowing seeds, the times of harvesting, and each season has its own time, and I also keep in mind that seasons pass.

This exhibition features summer, fall, and winter.

One quadriptych work (4 panels with 92cm hight) contains of all four summer poems. There are a large number of autumn waka poems. One quadriptych (4 panels 4 poems with 92cm hight) and two pieces of 30.5 cm square from fall out of a total of 16 poems are exhibited.

Winter, with a total of six waka poems, is presented in two sets of two each, large and small, approximately 87 cm and 30.5 cm in length, and (excluding those that have already been sold out) a total of two works.

🔸Part 4: “Cry for LOVE – What Men Feel –　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

The Part 4 is ongoing/future project, a group of works that focus on love poems composed by male authors among the Hyakunin Isshu, regarding men’s emotions such as passionate love or hopeless longing for his woman.

Like Part 1(Women’s version), I will photograph men and use for a part of the artwork. It is said that men are generally less emotional or less good at expressing themselves than women. It may be a bias, but I create works create works by incorporating the fact that when they take off their clothes, they are more vulnerable and honest…or more likely to express their true feelings as well.

Furthermore, by including people of different races/ethnicities and nationalities in the paintings, there are no barriers. It is to depict that we as humans could experience much of the same feelings/emotions when we are in love or when we face suffering. It is beyond time and space. This is also my response to our current social situations and suggests the awareness about love, fairness, suffering, and gender issues.

Two works are on display as a trailer sneak peek.

Related artist books are also on display.

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About calligraphy in my work:
You can see those poems in Japanese calligraphy in my work. In addition to my description in the statement above, mentioning a calligraphy master my father who contributed to this project, here is my thoughts.

Calligraphy is one of the historical means of communication in Japan and takes many years to master although in this modern society, it is no longer common practice. I have been exploring ways of combining traditional calligraphy with my contemporary art partly in order to create new ideas/values to pass on to the next generation in a different art form, transforming to the new images using own point of view. They are not straight calligraphy but I let them become abstract, yet it still has a substantial meaning and role in the work. My approach is both visual and conceptual.

About encaustic:
Encaustic paint is historical medium originally used by ancient Greeks and Egyptians. The concept of the series is “beyond time and space” both human emotional content and literally and technically. Encaustic began to be used in contemporary art as well. I started to make my own encaustic medium in the last few years and some paints with beeswax and other materials. Partly, I use photo-ink-transfer technique.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

<<Exhibition INFO>>

Misako OBA solo exhibition
Love: Beyond Time and Space
October 9-22, 2023. Gallery hours: 12-19:00
Closed on Monday Oct. 16
Last day (Oct. 22) Open until 16:00

★ Reception 🍷🎉
Saturday, October 14, 2023
18:30-19:30 (JST)
You are welcome to join us!

■Roonee 247 Fine Arts
Sato Bild.,4F, 17-9 Nihonbashi-Kodemmacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Zip: 103-0001
Phone: +81-3-6661-2276
https://www.roonee.jp

■gallery website (in Japanese)