These paintings by Yokono Asuka depict the Aichi Prefecture city of Seto, where the artist had her studio for many years. Renowned for centuries as a pottery-making town, Seto has a vast clay pit for pottery use right in its center. The pitʼs soaring, scraped slopes are the work of man, yet also exhibit majesty and dynamism of a distinctly non-human sort. Yokonoʼs paintings include the roofs of nearby factories and warehouses, plus the process by which clay dug from the earth is transformed into the vessels that add color to everyday life. In other words, the paintings depict the kind of scene that emerges when humans engage with the land through their day-to-day endeavors; something complex and concrete that defies encapsulation in phrases like “enjoying the blessings of nature” or “natural destruction.”

The Seto landscape has been a favorite theme for many artists over the years, most prominently Kitagawa Tamiji and Tomatsu Shomei. Doubtless it was the primeval business of digging up the land, forming vessels and firing them that inspired practitioners such as these. Yokonoʼs expression could be described as a 21st-century product of the same lineage.

Yokono Asuka is a painter who explores how people perceive images, through very basic elements of painting such as different brushstrokes, the composition of motifs, and color. In the works exhibited here too, the matière created by her powerful strokes complements the exposed face of the clay perfectly. Another notable feature is that while in previous works Yokono has mainly used motifs such as major pieces of public infrastructure, or still lifes on tables such as plants, to depict fictitious, sterile-looking worlds, these works are among her first to tackle a familiar landscape. Recent exhibitions include the Position 2021–2022 Nagoya Contemporary Art Exhibition at Nagoya City Art Museum (2021–22; Aichi, Japan) and Azamino Contemporary vol.10: Reality in a Square at Yokohama Civic Art Gallery Azamino (2019; Kanagawa, Japan).

Selected Works & Awards

2022

Flowers and Lighthouses (solo), GALLERY ZERO, Osaka, Japan

2021－2022

POSITION 2021-2022 Nagoya Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nagoya City Art Museum, Aichi, Japan

2019

Azamino Contemporary Vol.10 Reality in a Square, Yokohama civic art gallery Azamino, Kanagawa, Japan

2019

SETO Contemporary Art Exhibition, Seto Site Building, Aichi, Japan

2018

combination (solo), See Saw gallery + hibit, Aichi, Japan

2018

Inconvenient sight (solo), GALLERY ZERO, Osaka, Japan

2014

the way of PAINTING, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Japan

Exhibition

• Installation view at Aichi Triennale 2022
• scenery of Seto, 2022
• Photo: ToLoLo studio