Naotora Ii
Naotora Ii was one of few female Samurai of Sengoku Era, and one of even fewer female Daimyo (lords). She lived in the 16th century, and is known for her loyalty to family, village and nation.
|
Eleonora di Toledo
Eleonora di Toledo was a Spanish aristocrat who married into the famed Italian Medici family. She is a contemporary of Naotora ii, but oceans apart. She is noted for raising 11 children to respect both Italian and Spanish heritage.
|
Chimera
Chimera is a composite representation of Misty Copeland, the first black principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, and the artist, who also has her artistic start in classical ballet.
|
Onna Bushi (Onna Bugeisha)
This is a group of women, who when armed with their naginata (scythe) , were equally adept at reaping rice harvests as they were defending their villages while their warrior husbands and fathers protected the nation.
East/West (Bas Relief Tile Installation)
This piece, measuring about 7' by 7', consists of 296 individually hand carved bas relief tiles, and is set into twelve groups of 12 - 40 tiles. The Ukiyo-e style and color (see notes below*) creates an image consistent with both East and West.
|
East (left) Four Rows (from top to bottom. left to right)
First Row - Meoto-iwa (Couple’s Rocks) 15” x 24 ½"; Torii (Temple Gate) 15” x 18” Second Row - Mount Fuji and Crane 17” x 39 ½" Third Row - Giant Goldfish (Nishiki Koi) 19” x 14 ½” Japanese Temple (right) 19” x 23” Fourth Row - Bamboo Woods with Maple, 23” x 38 ½" |
West (right) Four Rows (from top to bottom, left to right)
First Row - Arch, from Arches Natl. Park, 15” x 18” Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River, 15” x 24 ½” Second Row - Mountain, American Bald Eagle,17”x 39 ½“ Third Row - City in Silhouette, 19” x 23” / American Buffalo 19” x 14 ½” Fourth Row - Ohio Cornfield, 23” x 38 ½ “ |
*Ukiyo-e is a style of Japanese wood block printed pactures. It began in the mid 18th century and is credited for influencing the style of the modern day comic book. European master, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, was a collector of Japanese prints and routinely applied the visual language of Ukiyo-e to his prints and paintings. He draws on many of the conventions of Ukiyo-e actor prints--the highly stylized pose, bold colors and patterning, flattened perspective, and asymmetrical composition. Note the similarities between each of these works, and note how Mayumi's East/West has taken this genre one step further by making it into a three dimensional piece.
Otani Oniji, Actor (1794)
This piece is a wood block print of the Kabuki Actor Otani Oniji who played the role of Yakko Edobe by Tōshūsai Sharaku
|
The Actress, (1895)
Portrait of actress Marcelle Lender by Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec, done just months after visiting Japan and seeing the Sharaku piece to the left. |
Bridge at Senju, (1856)
A print by Utagawa
Hiroshige from the series "A Hundred Famous Views of Edo. (Old Tokyo) |
Koi, (2012)
Carved ceramic tiling of Japanese carp, from the collection entitled East/West.
|
