Takuji Hamanaka “Weaving Light”
Owen James Gallery
This event has ended.
Owen James Gallery presents our second solo Takuji Hamanaka exhibition.
In this new series, Takuji Hamanaka has introduced a vibrant sense of light and color to his unique collages. Combined with his ongoing interests in restraint, pattern and perceived movement, Hamanaka continues to explore the possibilities of dimensionality in a flat surface.
As a classically-trained Japanese woodblock printmaker, Takuji Hamanaka brings a masterful precision and attention to detail to his constructions. He starts each new series by prescribing and following a certain number of rules that limit what he can and cannot do. By working through these restrictions the artist achieves an interesting visual diversity. In the past, Hamanaka would first print a layer of color woodcut on gampi paper. He would then apply many layers of smaller pieces of gampi paper upon the surface. Undulating patterns would appear, breathing a delicate sense of movement and depth into the material.
More recently Hamanaka has started with Bokashi printing on individual sheets of gampi. This technique allows him to create gradations of a single color, from lighter to darker tones. These sheets are then cut into smaller pieces, and re-arranged with cut shapes from other Bokashi color prints. New patterned shapes appear in a single layer upon the surface. Sometimes these can take the form of diamonds or triangles, while others are more reminiscent of stars in the night sky, or black holes.
The dramatic, floating colors and designs also bring to mind stained glass windows, such as those in Chartres Cathedral in France. We see a structure that surrounds and defines the luminous color fields. Whether it is the white highlights or darker recesses, the leadlight glow that emanates from the surface seems to slowly draw us in.
With an economy of means and endless ingenuity, Takuji Hamanaka continues to push the boundaries of both printmaking and collage forms.
Media
Schedule
from September 08, 2017 to October 08, 2017
Opening Reception on 2017-09-08 from 18:00 to 21:00