Fujiwara Ayame solo exhibition "From my feet to my hometown"

July 19 - August 4, 2024
1-7 pm
Closed on Mon, Tue and Wed.
*reception：July 20, 5-7pm
*Anyone can participate in the reception.

Shimokitazawa Arts is pleased to announce Fujiwara Ayame's solo exhibition "From my feet to my hometown." Fujiwara Ayame was born in Miyagi pref., Japan, 2001. She graduated from Musashino Art University, College of Art and Design, Department of Oil Painting in 2024 and is currently enrolled in the graduate school oil painting course at the same university. She is a rising young artist who continues to be selected for public exhibitions, including CAF2022, Hosaka Kenjiro Jury Award, and muni Art Award 2023 Grand Prix, Hijikata Meiji Award.
The charm of her work is the deformed and freely moving people, trees and characters, that fill the screen of deformed wood panel made by herself, the vivid coloring that incorporates classical techniques, and the energy that emanates from the work as a whole. If you look closely at the seemingly bright works, you will find many disturbing motifs, such as severed bodies, people on fire, and people fighting. However, the work as a whole still has a positive energy.
This is probably manifested in Fujiwara's experience of reading novels by Murata Sayaka, Imamura Natsuko, and many others, as well as her delicate sensibilities that do not overlook the subtleties of the heart that she feels in her daily life, and Fujiwara's very attitude towards life, in which she is willing to accept even negative elements. There is a certain freshness in Fujiwara's work, as she tries to treat things that are important to her with care. Please take a look at Fujiwara Ayame's cute, mysterious and emotional world of paintings created from a soft and strong spirit.

Artist statement

Every time I encounter the kind of violence that erases, doesn't see, or compares the existence and suffering of others, I feel the desire to not let the world that is unfolding in front of me erase my existence and pain. And the fact that I am erasing something becomes more and more obvious.

In the title of my solo exhibition, "From my feet to my hometown ,'' I use the word "hometown"not just to refer to the place where I was born and raised, but also to the place where there was someone who welcomed me. I also believe that "place" refers to a space that changes as time passes, and that first appears at the point where people intersect. This can also be called fate.

I often feel that important places are missing or lost. I know that telepathy is not recommended according to Earth's rules, but before I go to sleep, I often send various telepathic messages to people I'm interested in at the time, and when I get no response, I cry, and even I feel cold. I cried as the night went on.

I also try to express my feelings aloud and listen to other people's reactions. If that person starts wiggling around, dissolving my outline into the air, for the sake of their own self-esteem, I'll think it's the end of the world, and I'll have to run away and walk aimlessly around the area. However, I sometimes find green peppers lying on the path I walk along while crying, and I think this is proof that there are things that happen in this world that we don't really understand.

The reason why I compare myself to others seems to be an extension of counting people with numbers. As much as I'm afraid of violence from the world, I don't want to push anyone into a corner as much as possible. I also want to avoid breaking off with my past self and my dialogue partner. To that end, I would like to hold onto the current despair without giving up easily, and continue to have a dialogue with myself, looking forward to the chance-based hope that will continue to exist in the future. As the memories that could become my hometown unfold before my eyes, I am reminded of the fact that the past is not a disconnected point from the present, but the fact that it is with me, giving me the courage to move forward into the future.

Fujiwara Ayame
Born in Miyagi pref., Japan, 2001.
2024　currently enrolled in oil painting course, Musashino Art University Graduate School.

Favorite artists：Marc chagall, Nara Yoshitomo, Pete Mondrian, Valda Caivano, Sanya Kantarovsky, Nakazono Koji

Exhibition
2024
Group exhibition "Wonderland" Shimokitazawa Arts, Tokyo
2023
Group exhibition "muni Art Award 2023" Art Gallery SHUKADO, Tokyo
Group exhibition "10th Commemorative Future Exhibition" Gallery Nichido, Tokyo
Group exhibition "Raising Piggy with ketchup" Room_412, Tokyo
2022
Group exhibition "CAF AWARD 2022" Daikanyama Hillside Forum, Tokyo

Award
2024　2023 Musashino Art University Graduation Work, Excellence Award
2023　muni Art Award, Grand Prix, Hijikata Meiji Award
2022 　CAF AWARD 2022, Hosaka Kenjiro Award

Scholarship
2024　Musashino Art University Negishi Scholarship Student
2023　Musashino Art University Alumni Association Scholarship Student

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