From July 29 to September 4, 2020, Van Doren Waxter is delighted to present a Special Online Presentation comprised of a focused suite of works on paper and two sculptural wall pieces by LA-based Japanese artist Aiko Hachisuka (b. 1974, Nagoya). This online exhibition of works include monotypes (works dated 2017-2020) which are part of an ongoing series directly related to Hachisuka's two stuffed and sewn wallworks included in this project.
In these chromatically spirited pieces, the artist creates abstract compositions using inked imprints of garments - shirts, jackets, pants - acquired or found by the artist. The implicit intimacy here is two-fold, present in both the second-hand article of clothing that was selected for the print, as well as in its apparition left on the paper, an invocation of the absent body. This “loss” of the body, and subsequent abstraction, opens the visual field to a sense of impermanence or incompleteness, a nod towards the traditional Japanese aesthetics of wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection. A sense of imperfection and transience can be seen through the medium of the monotype itself, happening only once each time, with plenty of room for chance variation.
Hachisuka is primarily known for her multi-colored painted and stuffed objects, which have been critically lauded. Roberta Smith, in her New York Times review of the artist’s debut show, noted that in “the crowded field of stuffed fabric sculptures, Aiko Hachisuka’s stand out for their deliberation and complexity and for their sleight of hand...their bright surfaces almost gleam.” As with her sculptural objects, these recent works on paper are idiosyncratic and hybrid, and incorporate printmaking, collage, and painting techniques. Across her practice, the artist maintains the dialogue with her source material, whether her found clothing is physically present or not. While seemingly non-representational, Hachisuka’s work nonetheless always alludes to the body - distorted, anxious, and always traceable back to the human form.
AIKO HACHISUKA (b. 1974) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Hachisuka was educated at CalArts, CA (MFA) and The Ringling School of Art & Design, FL (BFA). Solo and group exhibitions include Van Doren Waxter, NY (2018); Eleven Rivington, NY (2013,2015); 7 Sculptors at Brennan & Griffin, NY (2011); Tables & Chairs at D’Amelio Terras, NY (2009); Core 2002 at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Snapshot: New Art from Los Angeles at the Hammer Museum, LA (2001) (traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami). Her work is included in permanent collections of Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, as well as The Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, TX and The Francis J. Greenburger Collection, New York, NY among others.