Kyoko Murase

Kyoko Murase’s drawings give off the sense of having been drawn very much at ease. Here, drawing, applying color and realizing this all in a single frame—in other words, the essential elements of painting—are developed free of any restrictions. At times, a flower petal or a magazine scrap is pasted to the surface of the drawing; such an element allows us to see Murase probing the possibilities of her work.

Her paintings are characterized by her brush work, at once delicate and strong, and her unique composition, which creates the impression that figure and ground have reversed. In her recent works, which are backed by sophisticated technique, it is as if the painted elements resonate on the canvas in order to expand the possibilities of painting even further.

Her major solo exhibitions include Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Cohan and Leslie, New York, and the Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Shizuoka. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions internationally since 1996.

Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery