pad GALLERY (Osaka)
Osaka’s small galleries tend to sit in slightly hard-to-find or relatively tucked-away spots, and they carry a calm, settled atmosphere.
pad GALLERY is a two-story detached house. The first floor was hosting a separate show. A café is attached, giving it a lively feel. Works were displayed edge to edge in a space that is by no means large.
After taking my time on the first floor, I went up the stairs to the second.
The gallery staff attend to you very well. Thank you.
Yukako Hashiguchi
Yukako Hashiguchi is a visual artist based in Osaka. She is also skilled at live painting, and during this solo show she was in the middle of creating a large work (as it was still in progress, I did not take photos).
According to the gallery staff, she usually takes ordinary, unremarkable everyday things as her subjects and
works them into motifs for her pieces. I looked through a file of her past works, and many powerful pieces stood out.
This solo show is a space in which a small universe is built up like a forest. In addition to two-dimensional works, I was able to see a wide range of pieces—three-dimensional works, a huge live painting, and a zone where you sense the light and dark of the lighting.
A small piece with a weed motif rendered in the Nihonga style caught my eye.
Summary
With works taken back for revisions and an unfinished live painting, the show had relatively few works overall and felt a little unsatisfying. Still, the works were powerful, full of momentum, and vividly alive. Her past works included intriguing pieces too, and she is an artist I find very compelling. I wish her great success going forward.
