Paula Nishikawara — Artwork

Paula Nishikawara

Bio
Exhibitions
ART
Gyotaku
Workshops
Shop

Bio
Exhibitions
ART
Gyotaku
Workshops
Shop

Paula Nishikawara

To all the participants who have been part of a Gy

To all the participants who have been part of a Gyotaku workshop with me, this is an invitation to have your beautiful artwork in an exhibition. I will be having an installation of artwork at the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall during the 50th Powell Street Festival this August 1-2. I will curate your work to form an Aquarium-like scene. Please dm me if you are interested in donating your work.
I am always so delighted with the Gyotaku images that you all make and have been wanting to showcase them. What a wonderful time to do this during the 50th anniversary of the Powell Street Festival that celebrates the Japanese Canadian Community and culture.
I look forward to hearing from you!! And appreciate so much!

#gyotaku #gyotakuworkshop #powellstreetfestival #artinstallation #

Skate, ratfish, octopus, rockfish, sole…..becoming

Skate, ratfish, octopus, rockfish, sole…..becoming art at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery during World Oceans Day and Prawn and Seafood Festival this past June 6th in Steveston, Canada.
Thanks to my Fisherperson friends at the Steveston docks for always providing. And all the inquisitive and creative kids and adults taking part! Amazingly unique art made by all.
Thank you @gogcannery for providing such varied experiences and @tourismrichmond

#gyotakuworkshop #stevestonrichmond #gulfofgeorgiacannery #fishprints #paulanishikawara

It’s like having 10 paintings all in one textile.

It’s like having 10 paintings
all in one textile.
I enjoy so many different areas
of these works.
Fibres from the jute sacks
that I used in a previous exhibition
combined with freshly gathered seaweed from the beach
combine to dance
on the soft Japanese cotton

#japanesecotton #textile #seaweed

For the past two years I have been developing a se

For the past two years I have been developing a series of textile works that grew from cyanotype experiments using fishing nets, seaweed, sunlight, and other materials that are current in my practice.
Some of those images began to take form in a new material direction.
I had these pieces printed on traditional Japanese cotton and they now form a new series of limited textile works.
I have been living with them for a while now and am excited to begin sharing them.
Swipe through to see details from the series of textile works.

#japanesecotton #cyanotype #textileart #artobject

Good art responds to what is current. I don’t want

Good art responds to what is current. I don’t want AI.
Give me words written from my heart, with mistakes in grammar that might be off topic or incorrect for the algorithm.
Give me work that is subtle and soft, not hectic and bright, or hectic and bright and not perfect by formula.
May I make work by touching something real, like making a rubbing at my great grandfather’s gravestone.
- making a print by transferring ink from the fish to paper.
- getting the mirrored image of a fishing net by using the sun to expose the chemicals on my fabric.
I am involved in process, with nature, with objects in the real world.
I venture to the fish markets and talk to fishermen
I trudge through the snow in Japan to my great grandfather’s grave where I hold the paper to the inscription and reveal his birth and death dates.
I bend down in the streets of Hakodate to make a rubbing of the man hole cover with a squid design, while the snow tries to erase my work.
I pick fish from the bycatch bin at the fish processing plant and make an image of the bottom of a dogfish. The side of the dogfish is too hard to print because of its rough skin and round body. Its head is skinny and looks strange when printed.
I make my work with my whole body and connect to real things.
My work involves contact, impressions, experiences, it becomes history of the moment.

#gyotaku #washi #takuhon #Tenugui #hakodate

Thanks to @clayoquotbiospheretrust @uclueletaquari

Thanks to @clayoquotbiospheretrust @uclueletaquarium @westcoastnest in collaborating to bring me to Ucluelet and Tofino for these engaging and celebratory workshops! We learned a lot about each species and their characteristics, about fishing practises and “bycatch”, met our co-workers newly, and practised the traditional Japanese art of Gyotaku (making prints from real fish/bycatch).
Thanks to the neighbouring fish processor, I was able to print some species for the first time- ratfish, dogfish and some species of flatfish and seaweed.
The Aquarium staff joined me in installing some beautiful gyotaku work (including their pieces) directly on the walls of the newly renovated bathrooms. If there is an award for the most unique bathroom experience, I’m sure this will be in the running. “Education” in every corner at the @uclueletaquarium !!
#gyotakuworkshop #aquariumart #ucluelet #tofino #fishprint

@paulanishikawara

Press
Vancouver +1 778 990 2672
paularipart@gmail.com
paula@paulanishikawara.com

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