Rie Kawakami Bio
El Paso Times - April 13, 2008
The Prospector - April 8, 2008
El Paso Times - April 6, 2008
Newspaper Tree - Mar. 23, 2008
El Paso Magazine - Feb. 2008
El Paso Times - Nov. 18, 2007
El Paso Times - Nov. 4, 2007
What's Up - Nov. 2007
Kawakami shows last exhibit
Miguel De Santiago
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Entertainment
Media Credit: Melody Parra
Rie Kawakami's pieces "Permeation" (back) and "River Stone" (front) are part of the exhibition, "Breathing Earth." The exhibition is on display at the oLo Gallery, 504 San Francisco. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday.]
The sound of paper being ripped apart is an unlikely sound to be heard in an art gallery, unless it is Border Arts Residency artist Rie Kawakami's exhibit at the oLo Gallery, located at 504 San Francisco, Ave.
Kawakami unveiled her exhibition, "Breathing Earth," on April 6 containing two interactive pieces made out of layers of paper, entitled "Breathing Skin."
People are welcome to rip off a piece. The exhibit is a change for a sculptor who mainly deals in metal.
Kawakami is from Japan and resides on Hokkaido Island, where she is a part-time instructor at multiple universities. She attended Tama Art University in Tokyo, where she received her bachelor's degree.
She then received her M.F.A at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1989. She said her journey through higher education was not easy.
"It took years to get into the university because they have examinations on drawing and design," Kawakami said. "I had to go to prep school to study more about it."
As a child, Kawakami enjoyed drawing and painting. Initially, she said she wanted to pursue a career in that medium. As she continued her studies in art, she became increasingly interested in sculpture.
"I'm attracted to the materials, how you can manipulate them and their texture," Kawakami said.
After passing her conference exams, she entered the university's metal art department to begin her education and career in metal sculpture. She has since had solo exhibitions, joined group shows and has held residencies in New York and Vermont.
She learned of the Border Arts Residency program through a friend and promptly applied. Kawakami said she was surprised to be accepted so quickly.
"Just one artist is selected every year. I wasn't really expecting for anything to happen, but you never know unless you try, but I tried and I got a response quite soon," Kawakami said.
Ray Parish, professor of sculpture in UTEP's art department, started the Border Arts Residency program. Its mission is to support contemporary art and artists.
Artists must apply for the program first, then a selection committee goes through the applications and makes their recommendations. Once an artist is chosen, they move into a facility, where they live for 10 months. They do not pay for anything except food and art supplies and are given a $3,000 stipend.
"The idea is to support artists and allow them to focus on their artwork," Parish said. "Instead of having to pay rent or utilities, we are sort of postponing real life for a while so they can really concentrate on their art. So far, it's really working wonderfully in that the artists get to really develop."
Parish said Kawakami's presence allowed for other UTEP art students to be able to learn from an artist with ample experience.
"All my sculpture students can observe her working, making her artwork, it's been wonderful that she's been involved with UTEP," Parish said.
Kawakami's metal art is largely abstract; her pieces are chaotic shards of metal that have been tamed into dynamic serene forms that suggest movement. The paper ripping installation is one of a few other interactive installations in her exhibition.
The piece "Journey of Particles" consists of a magnetized steel slab with individual pieces that can be moved around in whatever direction the viewer pleases. The piece expresses the nature of change, how it can come from any direction and how it involves an infinite amount of factors.
Some pieces were more experimental, such as the piece "Growing Particles," which utilizes sheets of distorted steel painted different shades of color.
The end result is a series of indescribable shapes, floating and dripping, yet somehow existing in a surreal plane of existence. Kawakami really knows how to breathe life into cold steel.
"My art is really about expressing the metaphor of life in an aesthetically comfortable way," Kawakami said. "I think art doesn't have to be beautiful, I believe it's more about something that gives inspiration to people. I want to present something really comfortable in my art by expressing the phenomena of nature. I want to transfer that feel to the material."
Kawakami arrived in September 2007 and her residency ends in May. She said she has enjoyed her stay at UTEP, especially the people that she has met and worked with. Kawakami was largely impressed by El Paso's landscape and climate.
"There's a lot of sunlight here," Kawakami said. "I feel like I have a lot of energy."
To view Kawakami's artwork, visit www.riekawakami.net.
For more information on the oLo Gallery and future exhibitions, call 533-9575.
Miguel De Santiago may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.