Contact Information:
Hideko Nara
hnara@hamilton.edu
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I started this year at a crossroads. I was interested in exploring my own physical self and my limitations. As a former competitive skater I was comfortable using my body as tool. This led to an exploration into specific and deliberate mark making. Each piece is a result of a performance of various motions, mimicking the elements of figure skating, be it jumping down from a ladder or spinning in the middle of the canvas. I imitate and elaborate on the clean lines left on the ice after a skate blade passes across and through the surface of through the documentation of the motion lines of my body.
The bright, almost garish colors draw from the overwrought performance and spectacle of figure skating. Just as skating is a meditative, repetitious and acrobatic sport, it is a performance, fraught with glitter, and rhinestones, and unbelievable drama. Each gesture is a spectacle of sparkle and pomp.
I would like to thank the generosity of the Casstevens Family Fund for making this project possible.