An Idol to be Worshiped as Goddess
August 23, 2023
It is rare to find an artist like Kaoruko. Formally a pop-idol in Japan, she has turned her experience into deeply personal, important works of art, highlighting the contradictions of not just her experience, but the experience of women in Japan, and of the universal female experience.
Her paintings reflect the weight of expectation placed on Japanese women. Disrupting the forced ideals that are thrust upon women. It is very intentional that the women in Kaoruko’s paintings stare down the viewer–daring you to fault them, or perhaps follow them, into the painting.
Kaoruko’s painting process pays homage to both traditional and contemporary Japanese artistic methodologies by using water-based paint (acrylic), gold leaf, sumi-e (traditional calligraphy techniques), ukiyo-e (traditional Japanese woodblock prints) and silkscreened kimono patterns on canvas.
Image: KAORUKO in her studio. Courtesy of the artist.
She says of her piece Offering to a Goddess; “Nyotaimori is a form of entertainment at the banquet in Japan by serving food on a naked female body. This practice has been subject to criticism as immoral, disgraceful, inhumane, and the worst example of female discrimination.
“Nyotaimori” has been perceived as a symbol of male supremacy, In the performance, I would like to change “Nyotaimori” into a completely different practice. The practice to admire women. Women are loving, caring, nurturing, and pacifistic by nature.
The naked female body lying on a flower bed is a symbol of Love…And an idol to be worshiped as Goddess.”
—
Offering to the Goddess, 2019
Acrylic, gold leaf
105 x 50 in.
267 x 127 cm.
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Superstitious #1 – Carp Climbing up a Waterfall
Since ancient times, “Carp climbing up a waterfall” has been a common design for “Kakejiku”: a Japanese hanging scroll used to display and exhibit paintings and calligraphy inscriptions and designs mounted usually with silk fabric edges on a flexible backing, so that it can be rolled for storage.
The meanings of “Carp climbing up a waterfall” are “success in life” and “powerful”. It is said to be derived from a Chinese legend that a carp climbed a waterfall and became a dragon. Things that imitate carp climbing a waterfall are treated as lucky charms
Superstitious #2 – Lucky Cat
Another subject of Kakejiku, Manekineko, is a simple but recognizable cat figurine with one hand up. The beckoning cat raising its right hand is a tomcat and invites fortune and good luck. It is said that the higher the cat with its hands raised above its ears, the greater the fortune it will bring from afar.
