「ACT (Artists Contemporary TOKAS) Vol. 6『メニスル』」
ACT (Artists Contemporary TOKAS) Vol. 6 “Layers of Optical Experience”
Ohba Takafumi explores relationships between remembering and forgetting, based on his own experiences, in works that he terms right landscape(s). Taking photographs as a starting point, he carries out a process of encoding, alternately adding and removing information, to construct works in multiple layers using Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) techniques and digital technologies.
In this new body of work, Ohba turns his attention to “appropriated memories,” which seem to be one’s own but actually belong to others, and “false memories” of things that did not actually occur. He draws forth new landscapes by combining fragments of disparate images into a fictional whole. Ohba has also adopted a novel approach in category, a series of two- dimensional works based on snapshots and conversations with their owners, taking a more direct approach to materials which he previously incorporated more obliquely.
Seen in their entirety from a distance, right landscape(s) resemble abstract paintings on smooth surfaces. However, a closer looks reveals elaborate arrangements of subtle textures of washi paper, pigments seeping through from beneath, lines made with a range of materials gleaming with varying degrees of polarization, and elements affixed to the surface to produce subtle concavities and convexities.
Meanwhile, category features thin layers of washi paper over acrylic panels, beneath which photos and sheets of paper bearing a few lines of text are organized in grids. The text and photos are only visible in glimpses through cutouts in the washi paper, which resemble the linework in the paintings, rendering the underlying content indecipherable.
The sensation of seeking fragmented clarity amid many textured layers evokes the vexation of encountering something that lurks in a hazy corner of one’s memory. However, the haze in these works fluctuates pleasantly, due to the washi paper’s soft texture and the soft glow of carefully placed metallic pigments. The viewer’s own reflection in the work’s surface, and hues shifting in the natural light filtering into the exhibition space, also affect the works’ gradated degree of resolution.
Ohba’s compressed memories, meticulously and strategically arrayed across surfaces, emerge in the works as tangible presences, transcending mere recall of the past or a simple process of abstraction. The works’ titles, hinting at scenes unfolding in the photographs, help fill in the blanks, and filtered through the viewer’s own experiences and insights, surfaces are overwritten as the “right landscape(s)” that Ohba presents.
Tokyo Arts and Space OSHIMA Ayako