Exhibition on ‘Bakemono’ opens in Kagoshima, artwork by Ayatsuki Shiro
“Mysterious World Creator” Ayatsuki Shiro welcoming visitors
On December 14, Satsumasendai-based artist Shiro Ayatsuki’s first solo exhibition, “Tentative Title: Bakemono Exhibition (Japanese title: 仮題 化物展),” opened at the shop and gallery Something in Tenmonkan, Kagoshima City.
Ayatsuki graduated from a university in the field of welfare and worked as a support worker for eight years at a support center for people with disabilities. Since then, she resigned from the position as she could not give up painting. For the past three years, she has presented her works at open competitions, group exhibitions, and collaborative events with specialty stores in the prefecture. Currently, while working for a company, she continues her art activities as a “Mysterious World Creator.”
Ayatsuki says: “I mainly imagine and express strange creatures and mysterious worlds that are close to my daily life and I have seen in dreams.” She planned the exhibition to create a place where people can have fun while viewing a collection of her past works that she would like many people to see.
“Bakemono” refers to shapeshifting creatures, such as monsters, ghosts, or specters, in Japanese. Ayatsuki positions bakemono as the human mind itself or something created by humans. She says, “It is always human beings who create bakemono. The reason may be because they are different from us in form, because they are dangerous, or because they are incomprehensible, like diseases or phenomena with unknown causes. I think humans may be the bakemono.” It is with this thought in mind that she added the word “tentative” to the title of her solo exhibition, implying, “in fact, humans may be the monsters, but for the time being, I will call my creatures bakemono.”
The exhibition includes ten works on the theme of bakemono, 20 small works from the “Monster-like and Cat-like Series,” and original drawings for a picture book created for Christmas. She works mainly with watercolors and acrylics.
Ayatsuki added: “My style changes slightly from piece to piece in terms of the atmosphere and the way I paint. I hope that visitors will enjoy the unique environment of the exhibition, which is not confined to a single style but is somehow cohesive as a whole.”
Opening hours: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Admission is 200 yen. The exhibition will run until the 25th of this month.