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Fumika Tsuchitori "Sleeping with me holding in my arms, Silence"

1/28 (Sat.) - 2/26 (Sun.), 2023
Opening Reception : 1/28 (Sat.) 6:00 - 8:00pm
*We are open on Wed to Sat. 12-7pm and Sun. 12-5pm
*Closed on Mon., Tue. and National Holidays
*Fumika Tsuchitori will be present at the opening reception on 1/28, Saturday, 6-8pm. The exhibition opens at noon before the reception.
Press release
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WAITINGROOM (Tokyo) is pleased to announce “Sleeping with me holding in my arms, Silence,” the second solo exhibition by Fumika Tsuchitori at our gallery and her first in three years, from January 28 (Sat) to February 26 (Sun), 2023.
Through her two series of works, “I and You,” which depicts two people, and “a scene,” where elements such as colors and shapes are extracted from landscapes, Tsuchitori has been thinking about the irreplaceability of specific objects, as well as the relationship between people and individuals. This exhibition will be a solo exhibition of new works showing how the “I and You” series has evolved and transitioned in recent years. In this series, two separate entities, “I” and “you,” have been depicted, but in recent years, the two have been melting into each other, causing the line between the two to become blurred. The two figures depicted are not limited to “I” and “you”: they have started taking on the possibility of being “I and I,” or “I and you, onto which I have projected my preconceived image of you,” or even “I and my shadow,” an important element in the history of painting. This exhibition will feature around eight new paintings that represent the current state of Tsuchitori’s “I and You” series, centered on the drawings that triggered this transition.


I and You (overlap), 2022, oil and spray on canvas, 1620×1120mm

About the artist, Fumika Tsuchitori
Born in 1995 in Hyogo, currently lives and works in Kyoto. Graduated from the department of art and craft at Kyoto University of The Arts in 2020. Her recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition “Blind Spot” (2022, COHJU contemporary art, Kyoto), a group exhibition “A painting surface: matière that narrates” (2022, Nihombashi Mistukoshi Honten, Main building 6F, Art Gallery, Tokyo), a group exhibition “天人花展” (2022, Seibu Shibuya Alternative Space, Tokyo), a group exhibition “Neko and Matière” (2021, MtK Contemporary Art, Kyoto), a group exhibition “Kyoto Perspective” (2021, ANB Tokyo, Tokyo), a group exhibition “Kyoto Art for Tomorrow 2021” (2021, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto), a solo exhibition “Bones and Skin (light a fire, have to go find the roses)” (2020, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo), a group exhibition “-Inside the Collector’s Vault, vol.1-” (2020, WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo), a group exhibition “SUBJECT” (2020, ANTEROOM KYOTO, Kyoto), a group exhibition “A-Lab Artist Gate 2020” (2020, A-Lab, Hyogo), and others.
I accept myself = Sleeping with me holding in my arms, Silence
In Fumika Tsuchitori’s “I and You” series of paintings, two closely related figures can be found in an abstracted image. The artist asked each model to pose as if they were embracing or cuddling someone, and then combined the images on canvas. The motifs are not limited to real people, but are often influenced by film, literature, and girls’ manga.
Throughout this series, Tsuchitori has depicted two separate people at an intimate distance. In recent years, however, she says that one of her drawings triggered the idea that what she wanted to depict was not limited to the affection between two people, “I” and “you.” The drawing in question was a small black-and-white one, and it became the inspiration for the series. Looking at the small black-and-white drawing that inspired the work, we can see a face, rotated 90 degrees, floating vaguely in the shadow-like black area. The white area immediately to the left of the face seems to be in contact with the face-like object, but it is difficult to determine whether this is another person, or part of the owner of the visible face. The line between the two is blurred, and the two entities seem to be fused together.
 
The myth that painting originated with the tracing of the contours of the shadow of a lover departing for battle is often discussed as the origin of painting. This myth, in which the artist left not a likeness, but a shadow traced on the wall as a kind of substitute or alter ego for his absent lover, suggests a profound connection between the motifs of painting, shadows, and the intimate relationship between two people.
Intimate contact with others, such as cuddling or embracing someone, is done through the skin. At her last solo exhibition, “Bones and Skin (light a fire, have to go find the roses),” Tsuchitori used the structure of the canvas as “bone and skin (skeleton and skin),” which has been carried over to this exhibition. She has also started using canvases made of materials that can express an even greater sense of bleeding or blotting, creating a variety of skin-like painted surfaces. The motifs dissolve into each other even more, as if trying to articulate the disquiet and complexity that is certainly present in the relationship between the two. At the same time, Tsuchitori says that she is always conscious of the existence of a clear boundary between herself and the other.
The two persons depicted may not be “I and You,” but “I and I,” or “I and my shadow.” Also, the other person we feel intimate with may well be the “you, onto which I have projected my preconceived image of you,” derived from our own memories and assumptions. Can we accept not only the positive and bright aspects of ourselves and others, but also the multifaceted elements like wounds and shadows? This line of thinking, which continues to deepen as Tsuchitori paints and ponders the notions of intimacy and closeness, are reflected in the works and titles at this exhibition.
This exhibition traces the transitions and shifts in the “I and You” series, which began with a single drawing, allowing viewers a glimpse into the depths of Tsuchitori’s interests and state of mind in a continuous process.


left: I and You（”Am I looking at the lake r am I looking into the eyes?”), 2022, oil and spray on canvas, 910 × 727 mm
right: I and You (“Face, I know at last from whence you came!”), 2022, oil on canvas, 410 × 318 mm

Fumika TSUCHITORI


Solo Exhibition “Bones and Skin (light a fire, have to go find the roses)” (2020, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo) installation view

BIOGRAPHY

1996 Born in Hyogo, Japan
2020 Kyoto University of the Arts, Master’s degree, Oil Painting
Currently lives and works in Kyoto

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
Blind Spot, COHJU contenpory art, Kyoto, Japan

2020
Bones and Skin (light a fire, have to go find the roses), WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022
A painting surface: matière that narrates, Nihombashi Mistukoshi Honten, Main building 6F, Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
天人花展, Seibu Shibuya Alternative Space, Tokyo, Japan

2021
Up_02, GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS, GINZA ATRIUM, Tokyo, Japan
Neko and Matière, MtK Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Japan
Light Brain Vol.1, ITOKI TOKYO XORK, Tokyo, Japan
Kyoto Perspective, ANB Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Kyoto Art for Tomorrow 2021, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

2020
UNTAMED VOL.2 YOUNG ARTISTS GROUP, COHJU contemporary art, Kyoto, Japan
-Inside the Collector’s Vault, vol.1-, WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo, Japan
10th, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan
ART AWARD TOKYO MARUNOUCHI 2021, Gyoko Chika Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
SUBJECT, ANTEROOM KYOTO, Kyoto, Japan
A-Lab Artist Gate 2020, A-Lab, Hyogo, Japan
Kyoto University of the Arts Degree Show, Kyoto University of the Arts, Kyoto, Japan

2019
Kyoto Art Lounge, Starbucks Coffee Sanjo Ohashi, Kyoto, Japan
Shibuya STYLE Vol.13, Seibu Shibuya art gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Innocent -P-, Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto, Japan
Artist’s Tiedeland KYOTO, Isetan Shinjuku Men’s Building Art Lounge, Tokyo, Japan
SPURT, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan

2018
Read the Wachuan, Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School Wachuan, Kyoto, Japan
HOP, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto University of Art and Design Degree Show, Kyoto University of Arts, Kyoto, Japan

2017
Now, That Paintings, Painting Laboratory303, Kyoto, Japan

AWARD

2020 Kyoto University of Art and Design, Graduate Show Award
2017 Japan Traffic Culture Association, The 38th International TAKIFUJI Art Award, Prize for Excellence

PUBLIC COLLECTION

Ryutaro Takahashi Collection
HOTEL ANTEROOM SEOUL, Korea
Kyoto Art Stay Nishijin Sutematsu, stairway decoration, Kyoto, Japan

ARTIST WEBSITE
https://tsuchitori-fumika.com

Artist
土取郁香
Fumika TSUCHITORI