SHIMA IUCHI, "Illuminations of Kamloops," Sept 9 - Oct 29, 2006, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond BC

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"Illuminations of Kamloops"

Shima Iuchi, "Illuminations of Kamloops," 2006.

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Artist Shima Iuchi

Artist Shima Iuchi

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"Illuminations of Kamloops"

Shima Iuchi, "Illuminations of Kamloops," 2006.

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SHIMA IUCHI, Illuminations of Kamloops

Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond BC

Sept 9 - Oct 29, 2006

By Bettina Matzkuhn

Imagine the mountains surrounding the confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers illuminated by the setting sun. Now imagine them glowing from a light source within. Consider the grand scale, the mass of stone and trees and rushing, silty water. Then contrast this with the fragility and feather-light quality of paper, and the ephemeral presence of the human voice. These are the juxtapositions Shima Iuchi brings to her work Illuminations of Kamloops.

With an ongoing interest in maps and human geography, Iuchi came to Canada from Japan to pursue her degree in Fine Arts at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. While working for CURA (Community University Research Alliance) as a research assistant, Iuchi and other members of the team interviewed almost 300 people in the Kamloops area, recording their stories on tape as well as collecting the “memory maps” they drew on paper. Iuchi began to consider this new geography as a multi-layered vision.

She has always worked in an interdisciplinary spirit, pursuing photography, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and bookmaking. As she continued with her research, Iuchi imagined a sculptural map on a grand scale that would literally allow her viewers to go downriver between the mountains. She describes how she was also inspired by the extravagant lanterns of the Neputa Festival in Aomori prefecture in northern Japan. Brilliantly painted lanterns the size of boxcars are pulled on floats in an evening parade. Smaller lanterns are presented in staggered tiers and carried like tall, glowing orchids. Iuchi admits she has never attended this festival, but carries the powerful images as a cultural touchstone. Conceiving of the landscape as a luminous sculpture seemed possible.

Iuchi made several prototypes, experimenting with wooden frames and wire and soldered copper pipe. She settled on the pipe - it allowed itself to be bent while retaining enough rigidity to be free standing. She also made the paper, which she applied with rice glue to the prototypes. Using Abaca pulp, the ivory paper features delicately swirling fibres. But Iuchi wanted the paper to be specific to the place so, in a practical gesture, she went with bucket and trowel up the mountainside to return with soil. This was incorporated into each of the final 100 sheets of paper, giving them a speckled grain. Iuchi says she never made paper while living in Japan, yet she holds a new appreciation for the arts of her homeland; the geographical distance has given her renewed and deeper connections.

Taking a topographical map of Kamloops, Iuchi enlarged it, section by section, into a 17-foot square. She adapted the concentric lines of elevation into the framework of copper piping, soldering every connection herself. Clothing it with the handmade paper, the valleys and ridges began to appear. She installed small, softly glowing bulbs beneath, and finally, in an inclusive and welcoming gesture, added over 100 clips of people’s stories from the CURA project to literally give voice to the landscape. Her rendering comprises both strength and delicacy.

Iuchi’s forté as an emerging artist is in her cross- disciplinary inventiveness. Her experience as a research assistant in several projects, an artist’s residency at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York and work/study appointments at both the Banff Centre and Maine Photographic Workshops have given her the opportunity to dive into extended projects and collaborations. Her ability to synthesize disparate influences is exhilarating, as we course down a valley’s physical and human history.