Matsuyama Kagami (The Mirror of Matsuyama), oil on canvas, 2012 © Pip Dickens
Patterns of Shadows by Pip Dickens
6 March - 17 April 2012
PRIVATE VIEW: Tuesday, 6 March 2012
6-8pm
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
London
“…we find beauty not in the thing itself
but in the patterns of shadows, the light
and the darkness, that one thing against
another creates.” Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows.
Patterns of Shadows is an exhibition of oil paintings by Pip
Dickens, derived from her research
in Kyoto
in 2011 as part of a Leverhulme
Trust Award
Artist in Residence project within
the Music
Department of the University
of Huddersfield
and collaboration with composer
Professor
Monty Adkins. The paintings (oil
on canvas)
draw upon colour, pattern, rhythm
and vibration,
associated with kimono fabrics
and katagami
stencils, and frequently juxtapose
these
with quieter, understated greys,
shadows
and subtle interplays of light.
These extractive
works observe distinctions within
Japanese
visual culture – sometimes celebratory,
playful
and exuberant, at other times
subtle, introspective
and reflective. The works are
produced using
bespoke tools, combs and ‘dysfunctional’
brushes to produce intriguing
oscillating
effects set against quieter,
meditative,
colour fields. Dickens draws
on references
such as Jun’ichiro Tanizaki’s
essay on aesthetics,
In Praise of Shadows, as well
as her own
private collection of katagami
stencils and
kimonos.
The exhibition will also launch Dickens'
and Adkins' book based on these themes 'Shibusa - Extracting Beauty'.
More information on the book here.
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