Yuka Kashihara 「1:1」 in the POLA MUSEUM ANNEX

When you leave the hustle and bustle of Ginza and step into a museum with natural light, the first impression you get from the pieces is that they are bright, warm, and filled with pastel energy. When we stay in the unique world full of vitality, where transparency and density coexist, created by these works, we feel our minds become free.

[Outline]
Yuka Kashihara is a young artist based in Berlin who has created a unique world of works full of vitality, where transparency and density coexist. In this exhibition, about her 13 new works are presented.

The landscapes in her pieces have been a mixture of real scenery and the space of the artist’s inner imagination, but in this new piece, Kashihara says that the landscapes are born from her thoughts about what people find beautiful and attractive in the moments when they suddenly stop in their travels or walks.

She uses oil paints applied in thin layers like Japanese paintings and watercolors, as well as tempera and acrylic paints to create a unique technique of deep color expression. At the same time, we may feel the artist’s breath and feelings through the brush strokes and the vigor of the brushstrokes from the oil paints applied as a base. Therefore, even though the scenery is somewhat abstract, it has a vividly feeling of reality, and you can almost hear the gentle movement of the air and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

The motifs of caves, holes, mountains, and lakes that symbolically represent introspective contemplation appear many times in her pieces, evoking in our minds the fundamental energy of nature hidden in the earth. The landscape of the piece seems to have no people in it, so you enter it and feel somewhat relieved to find yourself unmasked and freed, without worrying about the social distance.
As you sit on the small white cushions provided in the center of the venue and look at the pieces, you will be able to travel freely in search of the scenery you want to see.

Profile

Born in Hiroshima in 1980, she graduated from the Department of Japanese Painting at Musashino Art University in 2006 and moved to Germany. In 2012, she participated in the VOCA exhibition and received an honorable mention and the Ohara Museum of Art Award. In the same year, she studied in Germany under the POLA Art Foundation Grants Program. She graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in 2013 and completed Meisterschüler in Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in 2015 (under Prof. Annette Schroeter). She is currently based in Berlin, Germany.

http://yukakashihara.com/