.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Chiho Aoshima's works are the pure manifestations of the imaginations and fascination she holds in her mind. Aoshima's artworks are often created with the aid of the sophisticated technology of today, enabling her to transfer efficiently and accurately, her dreamy yet dark conceptions. A fine example of such a work is Paradise (Lot 923), a vision of illusion and fantasy. The orange flame like organisms flanking the edges, resemble coral surrounded by playful fish and creatures, yet in the context of the central landmass they are more comparable to the sun. However the falling water from the central river defies our sense of an underwater panorama and how is it, that the woman's body is a part of the earth itself? The sophistication of Aoshima's creation has provided us with an Eden like landscape where the viewer marvels over what his or her vision of Paradise would resemble. Paradise, is a piece that is an open ended question, allowing the viewer to be enchanted and engrossed by the technically and conceptually complex piece.
Yet in the highly detailed piece We Like Night (Lot 924), Aoshima has hand coloured with watercolour, felt tips and acrylic, a surreal night scene. From the texture of the painting we can imagine that it is a result of the arduous colouring and detail filling by Aoshima; the colours of the buildings are vibrant and almost glow on their accord when contrasted against the deep indigo blue sky. The buildings stand like gelatinous stems, willingly wavering and turning at their whim. The multicoloured clouds which sit low and high around the building tops look alive as if they too, freely meander around the buildings, a movement further exemplified by the clouds' extension beyond the squared edges of the paper. Perhaps stemming from her fascination with the night and isolated cityscapes, the city seems to float and is beyond the access of any human. By another token, the city itself is purely populated by the faced buildings and may not have been inhabited. The viewer is left alone for a moment to examine the scene, enthralled by the joyous colours but aware that this fabricated world may never re-appear as it is part of Aoshima's rich and fleeting imagination.
Yet in the highly detailed piece We Like Night (Lot 924), Aoshima has hand coloured with watercolour, felt tips and acrylic, a surreal night scene. From the texture of the painting we can imagine that it is a result of the arduous colouring and detail filling by Aoshima; the colours of the buildings are vibrant and almost glow on their accord when contrasted against the deep indigo blue sky. The buildings stand like gelatinous stems, willingly wavering and turning at their whim. The multicoloured clouds which sit low and high around the building tops look alive as if they too, freely meander around the buildings, a movement further exemplified by the clouds' extension beyond the squared edges of the paper. Perhaps stemming from her fascination with the night and isolated cityscapes, the city seems to float and is beyond the access of any human. By another token, the city itself is purely populated by the faced buildings and may not have been inhabited. The viewer is left alone for a moment to examine the scene, enthralled by the joyous colours but aware that this fabricated world may never re-appear as it is part of Aoshima's rich and fleeting imagination.