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Articles> Akiko Fujikawa
The print which first greets the visitor to Akiko Fujikawa’s studio is unusual for this artist. It is done in rather muted colours or what Aki might call her Kyoto colours. But its subject matter, which suggests a day-dream about the lovemaking between a man and a woman, certainly warrants these soft tones of turquoise, pink and white.
The man’s angular, upper body is simply and effectively represented by a few lines, deftly placed. The woman’s naked, prone body is more fully and softly executed. Explicit and yet at the same time enigmatic: what is that look in the man’s eye and why has the woman no facial features at all? These are the sort of questions that draw the viewer into the picture.
Much of Akiko Fujikawa’s work is figurative and concerns the relationship between people, both physical and psychological. The eyes in her prints carry much of the meaning, sometimes playful, as in her most recent work which examines the relationship between people and nature, and sometimes baleful, as in her series Wicked People. Here the outlines are strong and dark and the colours are bold. ‘I like to use magenta reds, emerald and viridian green, yellow ochre, ultramarines, and Japanese calligraphy ink made from soot – usually five or six colours at the most. In fact, I have a kind of a motto: this is that I try to express as much as possible as I can in my art, with the minimum range of colours and the fewest number of lines,’ says Akiko, who has exhibited her work in locations as diverse as London, Japan, Finland and Germany.
Akiko then goes on to talk more about her series Wicked People. ‘This came about when I began to think about how Japanese I still am. I come from a very old-fashioned family in Kyoto where I was always told off for being so outspoken, so I learnt not to talk very openly. But when I came here I was told many times by people ‘the Japanese are so inscrutable’ and I thought perhaps I was a bit like that, especially being a Kyoto person, and I thought that people would think I was a bit two-faced or cunning which worried me a great deal. I tried to work out my feelings through this series of images and was, in fact, pleasantly surprised by their expressions of impish roguery.’...
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