INSULA (island)

Kawabe Naho was born and raised in Fukuoka Prefecture, a chief producer of coal, which underpinned the modernization of Japan. After graduating from the Department of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Musashino Art University, Kawabe went to study abroad in Germany in 2001. She is currently based and working in both Japan and Germany. Drawn to the coal mines and energy industries that have greatly influenced civilization, Kawabe has presented installations, drawings, and other art in which the artist has engaged in detailed research into the industrial history and inherent geographical characteristics of Fukuoka and Germany. Her art is characterized by its almost physical impact on viewers, creating dramatic spaces like a scene in a play, and making symbolic use of sumi (coal) and mokutan (charcoal), which originates directly from plants.
This work began with Kawabe focusing on the insulators that are indispensable to the technology of power transmission and distribution, which is the cornerstone of the modern energy industry. In the beginning of the twentieth century, when utility poles were beginning to be erected throughout Japanese cities, porcelain insulators capable of withstanding high voltage were developed in Aichi, contributing to the power transmission and distribution network throughout Japan. The technology that made the production of insulators possible was closely related to the development of Western-style porcelain tableware in Japan. Using this history as a model, Kawabe is representing, in an organic way, the relationship between humanity and charcoal that has existed since prehistoric times, utilizing insulators, charcoal, electrical wires, and articles of daily use. Charcoal, which originated from plants, is spread over the floor like a floral pattern fabric, and from that arises a three-dimensional structure made of electrical wires. It is like a form of energy that was created and grew out of a flowerbed of blackness formed from charcoal, and then continued to change in complex ways. This work is connected to contemporary environmental issues related to carbon, and seems to be asking us how we should be handling the future of our planet.