An exhibition in two chapters, divided over two cities:
Antwerp & Amsterdam
in collaboration with Galerie Caroline O'Breen.
'So it goes.'
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-five
In the upcoming exhibition so it goes Miho Kajioka is presenting new work which relates to the concept of time, memory and location and which will take place at two galleries, in Amsterdam and Antwerp. Like in her earlier works the series consists of intuitive images of fragments of her daily life, from various periods and against changing backdrops, among others relating to the cities of Amsterdam and Antwerp.
Kajioka's artistic practice is in principal snapshot based; she carries her camera everywhere and intuitively takes photos of whatever she finds interesting. These collected images serve as the basic material for her work in the darkroom where she creates her poetic and suggestive image-objects through elaborate, alternative printing methods. Kajioka regards herself more as a painter/drawer than as a photographer. She feels that photographic techniques help her to create works that fully express her artistic vision. Her images evoke a sense of mystery in her constant search for beauty. The focused, creative and respectful way in which she uses the medium of photography to creating her works seems to fit in the tradition of Japanese art that is characterized by the specifically Japanese sense of beauty, wabi sabi.
Since many years Kajioka has been fascinated by the order of time. She became especially interested in this theme after reading Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s novel 'Slaugtherhouse-five'.
Like Vonnegut, Kajioka wonders if the order of time is always in the same chronology, or is it possible that past, present and future change in sequence?
'I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. - All moments past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist.' - Kurt Vonnegut.
In the exhibition Kajioka plays with the concept of time through installations that question the chronology of time and sequence of situations.
Kajioka's delicate, handmade, analogue prints insist on being regarded as not only images, but also as objects; the material physicality of her prints is affirmed through the asymmetric rims and edges, suggestive of wear-and-tear of having been in the world for a significant period of time. Kajioka's images furthermore appear to enact memories through the toning of the prints and the liberal use of empty spaces - half-remembrances, faded but still visible.
Specifically for so it goes Kajioka has made work in Amsterdam and Antwerp, that will be exhibited together with works made in other locations. Although the attentive viewer might be able to determine the location where the image was made, Kajioka intends to give her latest series the overall sense of universality.
Through additional sound and scent elements the audience can have an all immersive experience of Kajioka's exceptional perspective on the world around her.
Miho Kajika (b. 1973, Japan, lives in Kyoto) studied fine art in the United States and Canada and started her career as a journalist in her native country Japan. Since 2013 Kajioka's work has been exhibited in Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Colombia, the USA, Germany and most recently in the United Kingdom at The Photographer's Gallery in London.
Her book 'And, where did the peacocks go?' was selected as one of the 33 books in The Experts Selection at Kassel Photobook Award 2017, Kassel, Germany and longlisted for the Steidl Book Award in 2016, in Tokyo, Japan and shortlisted for the LUMA Dummy Book Award in Arles, France. In the beginning of September 2018 a new edition of the book 'And, where did the peackocks go?' will be published by The (M) éditions, which will be available at IBASHO on the opening event on 9 September.
