Image, courtesy of the artist: KuroKuroShiro Kami Stories II, 2022-3, sumi on rice paper mounted on kakejiku, 68.5 × 90 inches
Solo exhibition featuring works by Nishiki Sugawara-Beda.
August 31 – September 29, 2023
Nishiki Sugawara-Beda was born and raised in Japan, where all schoolchildren learn calligraphy. This craft provides the foundation and inspiration for her studio practice. KuroKuroShiro, meaning black-black-white in Japanese, offers spaces where viewers can privately immerse themselves in their own psychological and spiritual world. The works in this exhibition are painted with sumi, an ink traditionally used in East Asia made of soot and animal glue. Sugawara-Beda uses unique sumi sticks from master craftsmen in Kobaien, Kijuen, and Kinkouen in Nara, Japan. She arranges multiple saturations of this ink on handmade gesso panels and papers to orchestrate dynamic abstracted landscapes. The subtle value shifts of the ink provide a painted world for transcendent and imaginative realms to emerge. Sugawara-Beda says, "My ultimate hope is that viewers can walk away from my work with visual and mental frames for their spiritual world to linger, form, and exist."
Sumi Ink Workshops with Nishiki Sugawara-Beda.
When
Thursday, August 31, 2023
11:00 am – 1:00 pm CDT
2:00 – 4:00 pm CDT
Where
126 Biggin Hall
This event is free and open to Auburn University students, faculty and staff. 126 Biggin Hall is handicap accessible.
Register
Seating is limited, and registration is required to attend these workshops.
Click to register for the 11:00 am – 1:00 pm workshop
Click to register for the 2:00 – 4:00 pm workshop
This event is free and open to Auburn University students, faculty and staff. Workshop supplies will be provided to registered attendees. 126 Biggin Hall is handicap accessible.
Artist Lecture & Opening Reception:
When
Thursday, August 31, 2023
5:00-7:00 pm CDT
Where
Artist Lecture: 005 Biggin Hall
Reception: Biggin Gallery, 101 Biggin Hall
This event is free and open to the public. 005 Biggin Hall and Biggin Gallery are handicap accessible.
About the Artist
Nishiki Sugawara-Beda is a Japanese-American visual artist working in painting and installation. Using ancient Japanese materials and techniques including sumi ink, kakejiku landscapes, and rice paper, Sugawara-Beda makes connections across space and time with abstract and expressive forms familiar to the modern Western aesthetic.
Sugawara-Beda exhibits her work in solo and group exhibitions, and offers lectures nationally and internationally. Her recent exhibition venues include the Spartanburg Art Museum (SC), Morris Graves Museum of Art (CA), Dennos Museum (MI), Amos Eno Gallery (NY), and Cris Worley Fine Arts (TX). Her work has been featured in publications including New American Paintings, AEQAI, Athenaeum Review, London Post, Art Spiel, and WhiteHot. Sugawara-Beda has also received many awards in support of her artistic research, including a Seed Grant, Diversity Fellowship, International Enhancement Grant, Idaho Arts Fellowship, Sam Taylor Fellowship, Tusen Takk Foundation residency, and Dallas Museum of Art Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Fund. Her works are in private and public collections including the Dallas Museum of Art. Currently, Sugawara-Beda is an Associate Professor of Art at Southern Methodist University.