“Force” at Pace London until September 19 is an exhibition of work by the celebrated Japanese artist Kohei Nawa who is in London for She Inspires Art, an exclusive evening of installation, performance, and fundraising on September 16 in support of Women for Women International’s work with women in Nigeria and Syrian refugees in Iraq.Continuing his ongoing exploration of issues relating to science and digital culture, Nawa’s Pace London exhibition centres on the idea of force as a set of invisible operations that dictate the behavior of materials. The exhibition includes drawings, sculptures, and site-specific installations from four of the artist’s Direction, Ether, Catalyst and Moment series, the exhibition“Force in this sense refers to the gravity that exerts an influence on all things that exist in a space, the force that allows vegetation to grow up from the ground, and the force that enables slime mould to creep along a wall,” Nawa explains.To find out more about “Force” and his involvement with She Inspires Art, BLOUIN ARTINFO got in touch with Kohei Nawa and asked him a few questions.Your exhibition at Pace in London is titled “Force.” What is the significance of the title and what does it reveal about the works in the exhibition?I used “Force” as the title of a new work in March, and I have used the same title here because the theme of the exhibition is the visualization of gravity that is present in the cosmos. For this exhibition I have designed a space with works that incorporate physical phenomena such as gravity and inertia. The resulting installation space induces an awareness that we are caught among time, space, and materiality.Therefore, Force in this sense refers to the gravity that exerts an influence on all things that exist in a space, the force that allows vegetation to grow up from the ground, and the force that enables slime mould to creep along a wall.In the Direction paintings series, presented at Pace London, I dribble black paint onto the canvas. I offset the grain of the canvas on the stretcher by fifteen degrees, and then allows the paint to slowly drip down the face of the canvas, allowing the force of gravity to produce the lines of the painting. The repetition of this action creates a set of roughly parallel stripes that cover the canvas. The relation between the points and the lines not only yields visual stimulation but also enhances the dynamic impression of the space as a whole entity. The speed of movement, direction and gravity resonate hereby inspiring sensibility.Gravity is the driving forces in my Ether series, which captures high-viscosity fluid into a solid state at the moment it is dripping downward. Appearing as a three-dimensional sculpture, the iterative forms of the droplets appear as an endless column and visualize the force of gravity while also creating a feeling of weightlessness.I made also Catalyst series on the gallery wall. Like the Ether work, I employ a fluid material in his Catalyst sculptures—in this case hot glue—to highlight the transition between liquid and material states. Building on the legacy of post-impressionism and process art, the Catalyst works are net-like sculpture drawn directly on the wall. The different dots and strands of glue accumulate into an almost biological form that seems to crawl across the wall.The exhibition includes works from your Direction, Ether, Catalyst and Moment series. What links the works in these series and how do they resonate with each other?The Direction series works are formed by tracks of gravity and the Ether works are also a visualization of gravity. In the Moment series, the tracks are formed by a combination of the speed of circular motion and movements of the canvas. By addressing concepts such as velocity, direction, and gravity, these three series are linked together by a theme of the forces present in a space. The Catalyst series uses a material that matches the physical elements, and the work is produced by crawling around the space relying only on the sense of touch. In that sense, I think it represents a natural geometry emerging from the senses present in our bodies.The science of physics seems to play a major role in your practice. In your work, how do you reconcile the rigors of physics with the elasticity of the creative process?In terms of physics, I see the rigorousness of my works in terms of how accurately they convey phenomena that we observe in our world. Attempting to capture such phenomena from different angles and express them through a work is a creative process.What inspired and motivated you to join She Inspires Art?She Inspires Art is a charity event aiming to bring change to the lives of women affected conflicts which are still a part of today's world. As an artist, I wanted to create an installation that uses artworks as metaphors for the distortions of our society and the limitations of economies driven by consumption.Could you explain the installation you will present for She Inspires Art and its significance?The installation is a group of works that at first sight, seems to be meaningless, lacking a coherent context. However, the grouping is the result of commercialism, with the works, made in Japan and Bangladesh, being brought together by the vagaries of the flow of goods through the distribution system. The sculpture of a standing woman in a stance expressive of fortitude is representative of human life itself, and it contrasts with the small sculpture of a boy sitting on a throne that represents the approaching limitations of capitalism.
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