At first glance, KitaMika’s black and white drawings seem like a chaotic expression. But as curator Katharina Domscheit clarifies, there is a method in this seeming madness. “Her paintings are unique in the sense that she is willing to confront her demons through art.I noticed that her work is very personal, reflecting a very troubled family life and past, yet she has emerged as a strong, impressive person. She is a very rare artist who has no qualms about getting in touch with her inner mind and soul,”observes Katharina.
“Art is the medicine to maintain a stable and happy mood of mind,” is the artist’s emphatic endorsement. Her drawings flow from a spontaneous pen and mind, guided by her own admission by the voice of people, the rhythm of nature and the music. India, and particularly Goa, has been a muse to this Japanese artist who left a troubled home behind at the age of 19 to traverse the world. “Goa is a paradox of both the beautiful and the defile.It is the well of life of Buddhism for me. That is why I feel a real peace here. I was finally able to explore my talent as an artist here,” explains this photography degree alumni of the Tokyo Polytechnic University.
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The 19 drawings on display may seem like a dense network of repetitive dots and circles, yet on close inspection, birds and other animals, self portraits, Indian gods, the third eye, the moon and the growing baby inside her all come into perspective. “Although dizzying, it’s in arrangement, every single dot, circle and shape was placed exactly where it is meant to be. A dense forest of nets and structures reveal a process of drawing that is spontaneous and subconscious,” reiterates Katharina.
KitaMika’s drawings relate to Japanese art, yet they are inspired by a multitude of cultures and beliefs. Organic and abstract patterns emerge that reminds us of what it is like to look through a microscope. In her methodical mayhem, she endlessly repeats patterns of beehives and cobwebs, mathematical, biological, geographic and electronic forms and shapes. From the Funky Buddha to the Buddha Birth, Division and Baby’s Third Eye, each speaks of a deeper story. “The black and white effect is borrowed from the Japanese ‘manga’ (comic). Black and white pictures give the viewer a free imagination. Sometimes the viewer discovers some motif that I was not even aware of,” she elucidates.
A soon-to-be-mother, KitaMika’s rush of happiness and anxiety are also reflected in the drawings. In a representative drawing the past, present and future collide as the baby grows within her.
In a land that has offered her a place of peace and reflection, the outpourings of her inner being are, in a way, a thanksgiving …drawing us into her world of black and white!
(The ongoing exhibition, ‘KitaMika – Drawn into Black and White’, curated by Katharina Domscheit at Cube Gallery Moira will continue till December 6, 2015)
