KOKI ARTS is excited to announce Natsuki Takayama's first solo exhibition. This exhibition will showcase Takayama's new works including her largest ever piece measuring 4 meters wide.

The figures depicted in Takayama's work resemble features of both human beings and animals. When the viewer sees the unidentified "creature", he or she experiences a feeling similar to that of when encountering something for the very first time. Takayama, who loves animals, creates her work based on her own experiences. She applies acrylic very carefully, creating an image that appears as if it were embroidery or made with beads. The result is visually appealing, and the graphic depictions emit a sense of rawness and realism.

Although this will be Takayama's first solo exhibition, she has previously shown in several group exhibitions including "WONDER SEEDS 2011" (TWS shibuya), "Zokkon no Housoku" (Art Laboratory Hashimoto) and "UNKNOWNS" (iGallery/Gallery GEN).

［作家コメント］
I am interested in the moment a human being appears to look like an animal, and the personalities people ingrain in pets. The central motifs of my work are the things inside an animal that mirror that of human beings.

As I worked on the largest painting I've ever created, "camel rider 2013", I explored the relationship between human beings and animals. In the past, I have focused on animals I am very familiar with, but this time I have painted a Mongolian camel and its rider based on a photograph I have seen, which I felt a strong connection to although it is foreign.

When I had the experience of seeing a Chinese mummy in complete condition from thousands of years ago, I wondered if it were manmade, and at the same time experienced a similar feeling I get when encountering an inspiring work of art. This helped me rethink about the possibilities of painting, and through my work, I hope the viewer experiences a feeling of encountering a creature he or she has never seen before. When I saw the plaster casts made from the victims of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii, I noticed that although the casts do not have souls, there certainly remained the "silhouettes" of the instant of life and death. As I look back, I always remember myself being attracted to these things. It is with this consciousness that I create my creatures in the picture.

Natsuki Takayama

opening reception：2013.8.31 18:00−20:00