Young Japanese artist Kei Takemura returns to Tokyo-based Taka Ishii Gallery for another solo show after four years. The gallery is presenting her latest series in the exhibition “Something Falling from the Sky,” which runs through September 3. Approximately 20 works exemplifying Takemura’s experimental appropriation of photographic paper have been selected from her recent body of work. Ever since the artist witnessed the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, Takemura has become astutely aware of her surroundings and environment – especially strange and random things that may fall from the sky – observing the drastic transformation compared to what once was. Inspired by this concept, she applied it to her new works, which demonstrate how history and culture have been recreated through people’s memories and perceptions. The works are based on moments experienced by the artist in her everyday life, expressed through her personal sensations and modes of perception. They symbolically convey a reality that “could have occurred.”In the work “Danae,” Takemura includes a reference to Titian’s original painting of Princess Danae, in which her lounging figure is being showered with gold coins. The artist combines this with moments taken from her own memories or events, trying to instil new meaning into them. This latest project alludes to Takemura’s aim to reshape certain things that "continue to exist today despite their changing appearance or role."The artist is recognized for her work with embroidery, wrapping broken or obsolete objects in silk. By overlapping a photograph or painting with a layer of embroidered cloth, she attempts to provide forgotten objects, places, and even memories with a tangible existence. In other words, she seeks to preserve the objects and restore their former dignity. In this, the artist took cues from her grandmother, who used to do something similar with household dishes and porcelain.“Something Falling From The Sky” runs through September 3 at Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo.
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