Aya Kurashiki

Consistently aware of being one solitary existence, absolutely cut off by the individual matter that is the body, or by the categorizations attached to it, I have made work about distance from others. Relationships between self and others give rise to all kinds of friction and carry solitary challenges. For me, the work itself is a faith: a bridge for weaving relationships with others from within this severed body, or at times a form of care for tending the wounds caused by friction and for surviving. Taking as motifs care and the communities that accompany realms ranging from the macroscopic, such as religion, gender, death, and the body, to the close at hand, such as occupation and family, my practice centers on two-dimensional works using transfer techniques, and also includes ritualistic installations and performances on the theme of communal eating.
“九相図” and “互いのための香油塗り”, whose motifs are the Buddhist nine-stages paintings (kusōzu), Ono no Komachi, who was cited as their model, and Mary Magdalene, who shares with Komachi the burden of a guilt imposed on her, her individual personhood ignored as she became the stuff of legend and her image took on a life of its own; “Transition”, in which adult images are collaged onto the female bodies of famous paintings and other works; “Grave” and “Bury”, which liken works with box-shaped supports to graves and urns; the altar-like dining-table installations “わたしたちは家族” and “口腔間距離”; and performances and workshops involving ritual eating and drinking, such as “晚餐会” and “秩序を保つ”.

Major art fairs include “Art Fair Philippines” (The Link, Ayala Center/Philippines/2024), “ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA” (Fukuoka Kokusai Center/Fukuoka/2024), and “HANKYU ART FAIR” (阪急梅田ホール/Osaka/2024).

Active both in Japan and abroad.