http://www.bo-lee.co.uk -her Gallery.
After purchasing the new copy of Art World I found this Japanese artist showcasing some of her new work.
She selects photographs of people found from any sort of publication. She chooses her portraits very carefully only taking into account the physical image and not how famous the person is. She is able to do this as growing up in Japan she doesn't recognise many of the people we westerners deem to be famous.
However the paintings that come from the found portraits look nothing like any person I have seen. The use of very wide brushstrokes in circular motions along with bright colours are all that make up the faces. She says herself in the recent article about her in Art World regarding her style, "I'm fascinated by the chance moment or accident. In a way, I can't control my brushstrokes." Some paintings are even made up of several parts of different peoples faces making a composite portrait "I'm interested in people's good points, not negative points."
The reason I have taken an interest in her recent work is simply down to the simplicity of her paintings and the confidence required to execute them. Also I like the parallels she shares with many of Francis Bacon's portraits and those of Marlene Dumas and like them "Nasu creates paintings which are both intimate and alienating." The colour palete along with the wide brushstrokes at first seem so limiting in what they can produce but the completed works reveal that Yuko Nasu can achieve such realistic faces. In my own work I want to explore the idea of drawing with paint and I think this artist shows that sort of technique rather well.
B (2008), oil on paper, 50.5 x 40cm
c0151 (2008), oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm
all quotes taken from Art Worldm issue 10 April/May 2009 pg 58
