"Japanese artists Shintaro and Yoshiko Nakahara work both together and separately … Recently they have begun to collaborate, combining their different approaches to create an exquisite series of works that they have called 'Hikari' (Light), a metaphor for the revelation implicit in taking a mutual journey." - Helen Kedgley, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at Pataka Museum.
Bringing together the talents of Shintaro and Yoshiko Nakahara, the artists' present a unique body of collaborative paintings. The Japanese-born husband and wife duo each have successful independent artistic practices, having gained degrees in Fine Art in Tokyo prior to their emigration to New Zealand.
Despite possessing obviously disparate working styles, the pair demonstrate the intensity of their partnership and their respect for the practice of the other. This mutual regard is necessary to achieve the balance and compromise required to give physical form to the mental collaboration taking place between them. The artists describe this process as signalling the emergence of a ‘third artist:’ their respective practices combine to produce singular works which remain distinct entities in themselves.
Over the long process of the work’s making, Yoshiko’s very fine ink drawings provide the base for Shintaro’s acidic and strident colour formations; these are then often reworked again by Yoshiko to produce the distinctive and highly detailed finish of the artworks. As the two work independently, yet on the same canvas, they attempt to hold in their minds the other’s dreams, thoughts and intentions; thus the process becomes a kind of mutual reconstruction and can lead to surprising and previously unimagined imagery. The unique reflections of two minds together elicit contrasts of striking beauty, depth and dimension.
BIOGRAPHY: SHINTARO NAKAHARA
Born: Saitama, Japan
Lives: Auckland
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
Collections: The James Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland
Public Exhibitions: Recent Acquisitions Part II, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland, (2011); Double Vision: When Artists Collaborate (with Yoshiko Nakahara), Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington (2010)
BIOGRAPHY: YOSHIKO NAKAHARA
Born: Kanagawa, Japan
Lives: Auckland
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan
Awards/Distinctions: The Wallace Art Awards – finalist (2008)
Public Exhibitions: Double Vision: When Artists Collaborate (with Shintaro Nakahara), Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington (2010); Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Staff Project, Tokyo, Japan (2005)
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