Takeshi Takahara
Imperfection
September 13 – October 22, 2016
Opening Reception:
Friday, September 16, 7 – 9 pm
Artist’s Statement :
Imperfection
“The current selected prints represent my last three years of creative activities. In this exhibition, I wanted to place more emphasis on the significance of active engagement in revisions and alterations of works in the creative process, and less emphasis on premeditated goals. For example, I am less concerned with having a few scratch marks and smears in the final print. As the print develops, steps in the process are incorporated, adding layers of texture, and ghosts of lines – marks that record the experience of making the plates. These flaws often invite and encourage the viewers to participate in the mind of the artist.
Philosophically, people have asked questions for centuries about solving the mysteries of life. And people today continue to ask the same questions, sometimes with little success. But we know that we accept this quest as part of life. I see a relationship between the above way of working and how one approaches difficult times, times of seeming failure. We all recognize these aspects in our lives. Instead of resenting, we make the effort to do things as best we can; we often fail, but we keep going. We have a sense of active engagement with life in all its imperfections. The ‘perfect’ work of art is often skilled, yet it may lack an excitement – a more personal ‘diary’ – the animated sense of a mind at work. My invitation is for the viewer to walk into the artwork – to participate. In conclusion, I continue to explore the subject: lotus, as a way to examine the mystery of life, the fragrance you cannot smell.
Note on printmaking methods:
I have abandoned the use of toxic acid to etch copper, which was the traditional material to produce intaglio prints. Instead, I have developed a new approach to create intaglio without compromising the results.
I use plywood and spackling compound as substrate instead of copper and ground (asphalt base). First, I apply a thin even coat of spackling on plywood and let it dry. You can draw or scratch with traditional needlepoint or any home made tools to make grooves, shallow or deep depending on the effects you desire. When the drawing is completed, you need to seal the surface with polyurethane (water base), as the surface is absorbent at this stage. The rest of the printing processes are exactly the same as traditional approaches. I use soy based cleaner to remove the ink, and then spray water to rinse the residues and dry to store the plate.”
— Takeshi Takahara
Selected work by other artists
showing in this exhibition
Selected work from all WSG gallery member artists and from the following visiting artists:
Mark Bonnette, Carlye Crisler, Elaine Headly, Sandra Kunkle, Maria Ruggiero, Debra Sanborn, Michael Taylor, Martha Rock Keller, Marlee Hoffman, Idelle Hammond-Sass
“The current selected prints represent my last three years of creative activities. In this exhibition, I wanted to place more emphasis on the significance of active engagement in revisions and alterations of works in the creative process, and less emphasis on premeditated goals. For example, I am less concerned with having a few scratch marks and smears in the final print. As the print develops, steps in the process are incorporated, adding layers of texture, and ghosts of lines – marks that record the experience of making the plates. These flaws often invite and encourage the viewers to participate in the mind of the artist.
Selected work by other artists
showing in this exhibition
