{"id":184,"date":"2022-11-02T05:08:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T05:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vaala.org\/art-exhibitions\/yellow-submarine-rising\/?post_type=artist&p=184"},"modified":"2022-11-22T16:06:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T16:06:27","slug":"alina-kawai","status":"publish","type":"artist","link":"https:\/\/vaala.org\/art-exhibitions\/yellow-submarine-rising\/artist\/alina-kawai\/","title":{"rendered":"Alina Kawai"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Artist Statement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The paintings face my fear of being distant from family, Japanese culture, and its language. The works act as a catalyst to help me feel closer to these concerns. A sense of being physically and emotionally distant began when my family and I moved to America in 2001. After the deaths of my grandparents in Japan in 2020, I was unable to attend their funerary services in Japan due to travel restrictions. I started to imagine an invisible boundary between myself, Japanese culture, and the idea of \u2018home, which was formed by my lack of familiarity in Japanese Buddhist funeral rites and not knowing the customs of how to honor the deceased. I imagine the abstract shapes as spirits and formless bodies who exist in a non-linear space. The abstract imagery is paired with Japanese mony\u014d <\/em>symbols (traditional Japanese patterns and symbols). The mony\u014d<\/em> I reference mainly signify nature, which has allowed me to recognize and latch onto reality, and to suggest the change of seasons; the passing of time where life and death exist between seasons. In this body of work the paintings fill an emotional void, honor, and remember the deceased, while letting me find new ways of feeling closer to the time I spent growing up in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teardrops and Raindrops<\/p>Acrylic on canvas | 2022<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The shape of a teardrop is the same as a raindrop, and they both have associations with a somber feeling. I wanted to use the shape of the tear\/raindrop as the primary forms in the imagery to suggest the sadness I sometimes feel from being away from Japan. In the center is the largest shape and darkest hue, which is meant to look hollow. The other shapes are placed in areas that suggest to hug or fall around the center. There are also symbols of hydrangea that hide beneath the layers of paint that remind me of the rainy seasons in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Chrysalis<\/p>Acrylic on canvas | 2022<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The composition of the painting felt full and empty simultaneously; it has numerous shapes and an open center. I saw the oval shape in the middle as a chrysalis being surrounded by smaller shapes that hides and protects it. There are butterflies who hover around, and some layered within the chrysalis. In the painting the butterflies are gathered to where they originated from, the chrysalis, their previous stage in life, and a former \u2018home\u2019. I often look back to moments of change and the different homes I\u2019ve lived in; moving from Japan to the U.S, then Hawai\u2018i to California, and all the small moves in-between. The connection between changes in environment and personal growth has been invaluable to the ways I approach painting. By making a \u2018home\u2019 for the butterflies that also creates space for myself to feel grounded in.<\/p>\n\n\n

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False Strawberries<\/p>Acrylic on canvas | 2022<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the painting, False Strawberries, <\/em>I used simplified images of the sakura blossoms placed throughout the center. Around the outer edges of the image, there are the false strawberries, a type of weed that grows in Japan, curving and twisting around the sakura blossoms. Both the sakura and false strawberry are synonymous with springtime in Japan. The symbols in the painting recall the months spent in Tokyo, Japan from the winter of 2021 to the spring of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A Conversation with Orchids<\/p>Acrylic on canvas | 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The organic shapes in A Conversation with Orchids<\/em> occupy a large portion of the painting. I wanted the forms to cluster together and appear as if they are either merging or separating from one another, forming a connection. Within the transparent red background, I have included orchid symbols pained as an outline. The orchids float around inside and outside the shapes which adds another layer to the relationship with the organic forms. I think of all the visual elements having an inaudible conversation amongst each other. I see the orchids as oji\u012bcah and oba\u0101chan, which is associated with my memory of seeing orchid flowers in their home. The central shapes are ways I\u2019d conceivably communicate with them in the afterlife in wordless motions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Waiting on the Roof with Butterflies<\/p>Acrylic on canvas | 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

One night I had a dream of a painting; a white line forming a circle over a blue square, this was vivid and serene. I wanted to recreate the image from the dream and completed Waiting on the Roof with Butterflies. <\/em>While working on the painting I also read that in Japanese Buddhist belief the soul of the deceased wonders the house or resides on the roof during their period of memorial rites. I started to imagine the circle in the center as the full moon from the perspective of the soul of the deceased, who is gazing at the moon with butterflies to keep them company. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Night Plum Blossom<\/p>Acrylic and iridescent paint on canvas | 2022<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Plum blossoms can be seen during the winter at a particular time, right before or overlapping when the cherry blossoms flower in Japan. I painted the plum blossoms to remind me of the subtle transition of season in Japan, and how a floral symbol could represent change. Additionally, by using dark blues and greys I wanted to present a time at night.<\/p>\n\n\n

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