• Chiharu Shiota
• Wall
• 2010

Over the past three years, the six artists in this incarnation of the Tsubaki-kai have taken turns exhibiting together in various combinations of four, with the lineup changing partially each year. This staggered approach was adopted to boost the sense of creative tension within the group and to foster new levels of active artistic collaboration and communication with each exhibition.

The subtitle "Trans-Figurative" was selected to lend an overarching theme and impart a sense of conceptual coherence to the exhibitions. It symbolizes both going beyond the Tsubaki-kai of the past to transform it into something new, and also having the participating artists take advantage of their mutual interaction to transcend their normal spheres of inspiration and expression.

For this final exhibition in the series all six will exhibit together for the first time, showing entirely new works.

Yasuko Iba will contribute a work featuring a new composition that includes oil painting on cushions. Chiharu Shiota offers a recorded performance piece that is her first video work in six years. Masanori Sukenari has taken advantage of the features of the gallery space to create a new sculpture. Kyotaro Hakamata contributes a sculpture work that combines colorful acrylic panels, wood, and other materials. Naofumi Maruyama has used staining techniques to paint tree motifs in acrylics. And Miwa Yanagi offers an objet piece once again after a gap of several years.

In addition to showing these new works, the six artists will exhibit a collaborative drawing, created by passing around a sketchbook, where each participant has contributed layers of drawings. Visitors are encouraged to have a look at this interesting work as well, to get a sense of some of the connections between these six artists and the experiences they have shared.