Previous to the exhibition in Tokyo, this project was shown in China’s Moss Museum at the Wulong Lanba Art Festival.
Image courtesy of: This Is Colassal
Culture
A mud mural
The Japanese painter Yusuke Asai has always been inspired by the structure of ecosystems and the relationships between living things: humans, animals, and nature. Recently, the talented artist put together a solo exhibition in Tokyo titled, “Gimme Something/To Eat.”
The mythical mural is made of Asai’s “medium of choice” which is pigmented earth. Similar to his prior works, the pigmented natural materials used are collected from the environment surrounding his artworks’ varied locations.
This work was exhibited at Tokyo’s Anomaly Gallery last spring… sadly, this opening had bad timing due to Covid pandemic.
Image courtesy of: This Is Colassal
This installation portrays the earth falling from the sky with a human-like figure smiling as he appears to be opening his heart with outstretched arms. The dome-shaped room is entirely filled with scenes of flora and fauna. In addition, deer, reptiles, and rodents are scattered throughout the mural.
Asai engages the local communities into his projects by working with them to gather dirt from sacred spaces. The artist then dries the earth as he sifts out rocks and pebbles, transforming it into his medium of choice. He says (courtesy of This Is Colossal), “Soils have their own eagerness to change texture and transform into the shape of what they can be.” Nature indeed is the best teacher!
Asai hard at work!
Image courtesy of: Rice Gallery
This wasn’t the first such work Asai has made; he has a long history of similar projects. The young artist studied ceramics in high school; but unfortunately, advancing his studies in a formal setting proved too expensive. As such, Asai taught himself by going to museums and the zoo. He also studied the folk art and tribal art of many different cultures.
Asai chose earth as his medium because it can be found anywhere throughout the world. There is nothing similar between the earth’s natural material and the products that are sold in art stores. It is, in the mere essence of the word, a “living” medium… home of insects and many microorganisms not visible to the naked eye, and it is where seeds grow and flourish.
“Yamatana” at the Rice Gallery in Houston, 2014. The word “yamatana” means mountain seed.
Image courtesy of: My Modern Met, photographed by: Nash Baker
Asai’s United States debut was in 2014 at Rice University, and it was triumphant. Asai and a team of assistants worked tiresomely for almost two weeks to construct a mural that was filled with imaginary and real creatures, humanlike figures, rolling hills, elaborate plants, and other life forms. This microcosm of the world was painted using 27 shades of local, Texas soil.
Titled “Yamatane,” the mural was on display only temporarily. Asai loves to showcase the short-lived nature of his work. He says (courtesy of My Modern Met), “There is a desire for artwork to be permanent, but to try and keep it forever would mean that my painting would become unnatural. When I erase the painting it is sad, but within the context of the natural world, everything is temporary.”
“Yamatane” was commissioned by Rice University.
Image courtesy of: Design Boom, photographed by: Nash Baker
Asai’s works are not pre-meditated, the artist does not plan his designs in advance… he just begins working and things organically evolve. Imaginary, whimsical features and creatures come to him as he works and he translates them into enticing, imaginary, highly detailed worlds that spill off walls, floors, and ceilings. The end result is an immersive experience for the viewer.
