Publisher: torch press
In producing her woodcarvings, Otake uses camphor, cypress, and katsura trees, leaving the final work with a bare wood surface, and non-colored. Her works often illustrate motifs such as young girls, birds, and animals; their dignified posture and expressionless yet profoundly penetrating gaze evoke a mysterious presence reminiscent of an air of spirituality. The charm of Otake’s works dwells in the sensitivity of an existence residing within the rough-cut wood. People, birds, or scenes — a memory, perhaps a dream, of some place, some time — somehow connect with the viewer and enchant them further.
This book traces back the unfolding of Otake’s practice; from her very first works in 2006 to her most recent works in 2022. With her first-ever engraving works, the yet-unpublished drawings, and shots of her atelier showing glimpses of her working process, the book delves into the contour of her creative practice. The countless lives which exist within the wood’s rigidity and pliability drift through a vague flow of time floating between life and death, yet, possess a certitude, as if they have always been standing there. The bookbinding by Yuri Suyama with great attention to detail, along with texts by Toshiyuki Horie and Tsutomu Mizusawa extend the view of the world portrayed by her artworks.
Rieko Otake
Born in 1978 in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2004 she graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts’ Graduate School of Fine Arts, majoring in sculpture, and completed her PhD in 2007. Her works have been collected in the Takahashi and JAPIGOZZI Collections. As well as exhibiting in the show “As Long As Rainbow Lasts” (Soka Art Center, Taipei, 2011), she has also held four solo exhibitions at Tomio Koyama Gallery.