Kohei Nawa: ékleipsis
Spending time between work and everyday life with the art of my friends
It's neither a studio nor a home, but an art bar that feels like a space in between. I feel at ease whenever I come and enjoy the comfortable stimulation of spending time with my favorite art, so I visit it as if it were an extension of my own room."
Tonight, sculptor Nawa Kohei has set foot in a multi-tenant building in Gion-Shijo, at Eclipse, a semi-members-only bar that displays the works of fellow artists and graduates of Kyoto University of the Arts.
"I thought it would be great if it could become a place where artists and curators could gather and interact naturally, like the art salon Traumaris, which was in Roppongi in the 2000s. I've been talking about this with the owner, and I'm helping out with things like selecting the works to display in the store."
He spends his busy days commuting between his studio in Kyoto and his home in Tokyo every three to four days. Nevertheless, "time passes slowly in Kyoto, and there is a deeply rooted culture that allows people to pursue creative activities without relying on commercialism. There are many old buildings and art pieces, and it has a deep history, so I think it's understandable why more and more young artists are choosing this city as their base."
Nawa laughs and says, "I just drew it on my own" when he draws on the walls with a glue gun. The lines drawn with the thermoplastic glue gun rise up in a three-dimensional shape, creating an ambiguous presence that cannot be clearly defined as either a painting or a sculpture, creating the scenery of the store.
"It's an image of street art that appears in the gap between two multi-tenant buildings and doesn't belong anywhere. When you gaze at it absentmindedly, the small blank space on the left edge begins to look like a gaping hole in your heart. I feel like I can spend time at this bar filling that hole."
Sarasa Yoshioka: Yamada Farm
Every day I receive the pure energy of the land in Fushimi, a place rich in history and nature.
Sarasa Yoshioka was born and raised near Fushimi Momoyama no Misasagi and works on her art in Mukojima, also in Fushimi Ward. She feels the change of seasons as she watches the moon from the Kangetsu Bridge near her studio, and is also soothed by the vegetables and rice grown on Mukojima, where the vast Ogura Pond once stood.
"The vegetables from Yamada Farm, which continues to grow without pesticides, taste especially delicious. We have a common thread between our two approaches to nature-based craftsmanship, and have had a relationship with them since the previous generation. They also help us grow the indigo plant, which is essential for dyeing."
Yuki Hayashi: Kamigamo Shrine
A sacred place in northern Kyoto where the pure waters purify the body and mind
Yuki Hayashi, who organizes the Kyobansai festival, a music festival featuring anime soundtracks, says that Kamigamo Shrine nurtured his musical sensibilities. "It's close to my parents' house, so I've been familiar with it since I was a child. Even though it's in the city, it's rich in nature, and when I was in junior high school, I would sneak out of the house at night to gaze at the starry sky from the shrine grounds."
Her favorite is the Mitarashi River, which flows gently through the sacred grounds. "I like to cool off by dipping my feet in the water, and in early summer I enjoy watching the fireflies dance. It's an important place where my soul is refreshed no matter when I visit."
