Artists: Eiko Yamazawa - Atsuko Tanaka - Kazuyo Kinoshita - Emi Mizukami - Fumika Tsuchitori - Saya Okubo

Each Modern presents the group exhibition To Sway and Surround: Japanese Female Abstraction, which reflects on the independent attempts made by female abstract artists across different eras through the lens of Japanese women artists spanning a century.

In Japan, where the art scene has historically been male-dominated and realism has long been the mainstream mode of artistic expression, female abstract artists have only recently begun to gain recognition. Despite facing multiple biases, a significant number of women artists have forged their own paths, viewing themselves as artistic revolutionaries on par with their male counterparts. Some have even distanced themselves from established genres, dedicating themselves to creating a visual language that transcends time, ultimately driving a transformation in the forms and concepts of abstract art that belong to Asian females.

Finally, the times have caught up with me. Even if they don't, it doesn't matter.
- Yamazawa Eiko, Asahi Shimbun Evening Edition, September 12, 1992

This exhibition emphasizes the duality of female artists, drawing thematic inspiration from the poetry of early Japanese women artists, particularly the imagery of "entwined" found in haiku. It aims to showcase how female artists express their ideals of art and self-independence through their unique feminine perspectives. This flexible expression of independence conveys a strong belief in transcendence and recognizes that abstraction is the best means of expressing technical advancement and emotion.

The exhibition begins with Yamazawa Eiko (1899 - 1995), who fused geometric abstraction with everyday landscapes, creating photographic compositions defined by shapes and colors within flat images. Although these works were completed in the 1980s, they reflect the experiences of Yamazawa during the 1920s and 30s, a time when artists in Paris and New York were creating in this style, referring to their works as non-representational or non-objective. Their goal was to create a universal language composed of lines, shapes, and colors, unrelated to people, places, or things, which can be seen as a pursuit of a more metaphysical aesthetic. The formal elements of lines, shapes, and colors in Yamazawa's photography ultimately aim to address how to handle depth in her painterly approach, presenting a topic that is both metaphysical and profoundly grounded.

Tanaka Atsuko (1932 - 2005), one of the few women to establish an art movement alongside men and become its leader, opened new pathways for abstraction through organic forms and lines. She seems to be the most detached from observable reality within organicism, resembling a conceptualized city or network, fully representing the unstable materiality of amorphous art. Her work "Electric Dress" (1956) was inspired by the neon lights she saw at Osaka Station in the 1950s, merging her desire for expression into a groundbreaking experiment: an abstract process that transcends emotion, a more direct and bodily response to the material culture of the time—rather than an exploration of a female artist's inner world. Tanaka's artistic sensibility touches upon the excitement of post-war material affluence and the impact of technology on urban life, as well as artists' interests in reusing and reshaping popular culture.

Moving into the 1980s, Kinoshita Kazuyo (1939 - 1994) abandoned photography between 1980 and 1981, turning to pastel creations to explore the subtle relationship between lines and colors, finding new modes of expression through continuous creation and destruction. In her later paintings, Kinoshita emphasized the importance of lines and space on the flat surface, as her pursuit of abstract spirituality guided the physical emphasis on vertical movement. The space of shapes and colors also tended toward freedom and mystery, leading viewers into higher states of consciousness. The acts of applying and erasing became equally important techniques, creating an unprecedented sense of space on the white canvas. In 1990, just as Kinoshita's art reached new heights, she was diagnosed with cancer. She refused surgery and continued to create and exhibit, ultimately moving to Los Angeles, where she worked until her passing in 1994. A major retrospective of Kinoshita has begun touring from the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka in 2024, showcasing tones and forms that are rich in mystery and power, allowing us to glimpse a broader universe.

Among the younger artists, Mizukami Emi (b. 1992) also creates unique contrasts through the acts of applying and erasing. Although her paintings are covered with paint, the underlying themes still persist, allowing each piece to possess multiple interpretations. She emphasizes that the erased parts of the painting and the existing images exist infinitely in time and space, and these processes become an integral part of the artistic creation. Mizukami participated in Each Modern group exhibition Paprika in 2022 and subsequently gained recognition in Europe and the United States, taking part in group and solo exhibitions at galleries such as Herald St, Ehrlich Steinberg, and King’s Leap. Tsuchitori Fumika (b. 1995) divides her works into two main series: "I and You" and "A Scene." The former explores intimate relationships, while the latter extracts elements from landscapes. She employs experimental layering with spray paint and oil paint to create sensory images, emphasizing the transitional state between content and form, akin to the intimate interactions found in human relationships. Similarly, Okubo Saya (b. 1992) features two different elements coexisting in her works, focusing on body parts and various postures people adopt in daily life. She describes her work as "an exploration of the existence of things and the act of reality," with a pivotal moment stemming from a severe car accident years ago that shattered her body and spirit. During her recovery, she came to understand the difficulties of being understood and understanding others as individuals, making her work an endless monologue, a continuous dialogue with herself until death.

The three young female artists may suggest the point to transform the serious human body—an aspect that early female abstract artists deliberately overlooked. Now, this focus can break free from the definitions imposed by the male gaze, as female artists begin to provide a blank space, either swaying or surrounding, for contemplation regarding their bodies for both the audience and themselves. In these new movements and entanglements of abstraction, visitors become collaborators and participants in abstract art, continually exploring the female experience expressed through art.