Reflections on weather - an artist's visit to Japan
Travelling to Japan earlier this year to explore how weather is portrayed across various forms of Japanese visual arts, artist Georgie Hill visited galleries and museums, engaging with works of art and learning from professionals in the field. Georgie reflects that the experience not only enhanced her professional practice but also strengthened her connections within Japan's arts community and opened doors to future opportunities. Georgie was assisted to travel to Japan with an Arts Practitioners Grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Georgie in the Arashi Shibori (Japanese dying technique) workshop of Kaei Hayakawa
My research in Japan was grounded in reflection on the representation of weather events, in particular rain, in Japanese culture, exploring the various systems and visual languages found within a range of art forms.
From Ukiyo-e prints, Arashi Shibori and Rakusui washi to the pop culture of Manga comics and Anime films, visual art in Japan has a distinctive engagement with the representation and poetics of weather, deftly evoking both atmosphere and emotion.
In our current time of environmental crisis on a global scale and ever-threatening weather patterns, these depictions resonate in new and potent ways.
I based myself in Nakano City, just minutes away from the anime and manga Mecca ‘Nakano Broadway’, and close by to Suginami City, the home of 70 animation production studios and the Suginami Animation Museum - which was to be one of my first destinations.
Back in 2015 I had visited this museum and seen a film of artist Takayuki Goto cutting straight slanting lines on a cel to evoke a moving image of rain. It particularly resonated for me in connection to my watercolour paintings, in which I have developed a process of making precise incisions into the paper, creating channel-like lines on the surface.
Japanese anime and manga represent rain through both long and short straight lines that often cover the entire pictorial frame. This technique stems from prints of the Ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period, who were skilled at portraying rainy landscapes in a simple but expressive manner.
Georgie with Rikio Yoshida (Director) and Fujita Teru (Producer) at Suginami Animation Museum
At Suginami Animation Museum, I met with director Rikio Yoshida, and producer Fujita Teru, who talked me through some of the history and technical processes of Anime.
I was given full access to the museum’s film archive and library, and directed to some incredibly useful books about anime effect drawing involving weather and background art.
I spent many hours researching here, returning again in the following weeks, and uncovered some wonderful resources connected to my visual interests.
For my first workshop I travelled to Arimatsu, a four-hour drive from central Tokyo, to take part in an Arashi Shibori workshop taught by Kaei Hayakawa - a renowned master of this particular technique.
Arashi Shibori (Arashi meaning “storm”) is a Japanese resist dye technique that results in diagonal stripes on cloth that are reminiscent of storm driven rain.
The process involves folding, and binding fabric before dying it in natural indigo, which strongly relates to the ways in which I fold and manipulate canvas in the process of making my acrylic paintings.
With the help of my friend John Kii as interpreter, I was able to experience the Arashi process in detail, guided by sensei Hayakawa, as well as talk to him about my painting practice and the ways in which it connects with Shibori.
This workshop was to be one of the highlights of my entire trip and yielded valuable visual connections, that I will take forward within my painting practice.
Georgie taking part in a rakusui-shi 'raindrop' washi workshop with Nao Tanaka
The next key part of my research was to learn the process of Rakusui-Shi “Raindrop marked Washi” with artisan Nao Tanaka at Ozu Washi Tokyo. Nao herself was taught the craft by washi master Teizo Takano in Saitama Prefecture, she talked to me about the history and the process.
Rakusui-Shi is handmade paper that has been exposed to drops of water from above during production to create a delicate pattern of holes in the surface.
In a sense this process creates ornamentation through the gentle destruction of the surface. Kozo (Mulberry) pulp which has been cut into small pieces and cooked in a mild alkaline solution, rinsed, cleaned and beaten to break down the fibres, is placed in a vat called a sukibune.
The paper maker uses a mesh screen on a wooden frame to scoop up the Kozo mixture, gently shaking the screen or ‘mould’ to even out the distribution of pulp.
I experimented with shaking/moving the frame in different motions to create a more textured, wave-type surface across some areas of my paper. I then used a large paint-brush to drip ‘rain-drop’ marks, and also a shower head on a light setting to create denser mark-making. It was fascinating to see the different rain textures I could achieve.
Georgie: "During my trip I met a range of artists, anime industry professionals, gallerists and curators, and visited 31 exhibitions..."
During my trip I met a range of artists, anime industry professionals, gallerists and curators, and visited 31 exhibitions, ranging from commercial galleries to artist run initiatives, to art museums.
My exhibition highlight was at MOA Museum of Art in Atami; Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mount Fuji, Ukiyo-e prints portraying the magnificence of Fuji from various angles as well as depicting various types of weather and the change of seasons, including the wildly famous ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’.
To see these prints in the flesh was incredible for me, the exquisite glow of the colours and the paper textures and subtle printing techniques that one can see up close in person.
Part of the exhibition was a separate gallery where the prints were projected on a giant screen, offering an immersive experience for appreciating minute details, thanks to the super-high-definition imagery technology of a 150M pixel camera.
Now back in New Zealand, I have been reflecting on my experiences in Japan, the ideas and connections I see between the techniques and processes I learnt there and my own visual language as a painter. I am ready for the next stage which is to make a new body of work stemming from these experiences and visual connections.
The research trip also allowed me to strengthen and grow my connections and knowledge, making contacts along the way that have opened up the potential for future opportunities in Japan.
The Foundation's arts programme aims to bring Asia into the mainstream of New Zealand arts by inspiring New Zealand arts professionals to grow their connections and knowledge of Asia. It also supports the presentation of Asian arts in partnership with New Zealand arts organisations and events.
Our Arts Practitioners Fund provides support for experiential opportunities for individual New Zealand-based arts practitioners to deepen artistic and professional connections with Asia, including residencies, work placements, research tours and exchanges.
