ayakohfurukawa

ART TOUCH COLLECTION Contemporary Chinese Art and Modern Japanese Print Art

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Text Drawing of “You Are Built Not To Shrink Down To Less but To Blossom Into More—Oprah Winfrey”

Detailed Text Drawing of “You Are Built Not To Shrink Down To Less but To Blossom Into More—Oprah Winfrey”- Young woman and a girl (Detailed Close-up), 2009, Graphite & ink on Paper, 72” x 36”

Torturing the Innocent II, Hamster No.17 – Hit by Whisk, 2009, Oil on Canvas, 9” x 12”

Torturing the Innocent II, Hamster No.16 - Getting Dressed, 2009, Oil on Canvas, 9” x 12”

Strangely It Became A Portrait 2008, 18”x24”, Acrylic on canvas

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Ayakoh Furukawa

Ayakoh Furukawa is an international artist based in New York. Furukawa works on simultaneous multiple projects. She chooses the best style and medium to express certain statements and provides a visual expression to convey a distinctive aesthetic. She has a BFA and MFA from Hunter College of the City University of NY. She has exhibited in Chelsea, Tokyo, Osaka and Shanghai.

Currently her major projects are:

The Text Drawings of Long Necked Women As explained by the artist: "Written language is considered a direct communication method, yet it contains ambiguity in meaning. The images in my works are metaphors and meant to be ambiguous as well. A significant element is my meticulous handwriting. The text which is the title of the work become lines and adds depth and character to the image. I repeat the same text thousands of times in my head and question the meaning of the text as I develop the images as I draw. The process is very important to show how truthful I am to my statement in each drawing. This sincerity becomes an obsession and the resulting images are strangely beautiful.

I have chosen the image of Burmese long-neck women because they are ambigious beings to me. The women are trapped in the coils to stretch their necks to look beautiful.

Demonstrating their cultural characteristic is the way for them to make money from tourists. However I do not feel sorry for them. They have a simple yet fulfilled life and they appear to be strong to me. Women in developed countries have more freedom, yet we are also trapped in their own issues .These women make me reflect on their life upon the culture in which I live. By incorporating the quotations of celebrities into the drawings for this particular series, I hope to achieve a unique visual statement.”

Torturing the Innocent II A series of paintings and drawings of the artist’s deceased pet hamster. The hamster is a unique protagonist to evoke the dark side of the human mind as well as the fragility of life. As quoted by noted art critic Robert Morgan, “The drawings and paintings that ensued are meticulously rendered and superb in their even-handed and fierce stylization. As with the rest of this engaging exhibition, Furukawa’s psychological insight and penetration open a door to the unknown through which many Westerners—with the possible exception of the 17th Spanish Baroque artists, such as Goya and Josep Ribera—would not dare to tread.”

Metamorphosis is Furukawa’s aspiration to visualize the metamorphosis of the human mind signified by biomorphic images and fragments of the human body. Instead of using a Western visual system such as linear perspective and modeling to create illusions, the artist instead employs Eastern techniques using overlapping and multiple contrasts.