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Statement
I’m interested in exploring modern techniques in landscape painting. Instead of the typical one-point perspective, I seek to create works with temporal depth and appear to be multi-perspective. I aim to transform landscape painting from a passive form of expression into an active one, exploring its potential to shape community identity. The goal is to develop a simple yet empowering framework for contemporary landscape painting that is not constrained by existing boundaries and structures.
My works of art explore the subtle existence of minute and transient entities, as well as methods of aggregating them. In today’s increasingly digital world, where the perception of places has become homogenized and the sense of materiality has diminished, I value the presence of microscopic entities and seek to emphasize their importance. Additionally, I envision these microscopic worlds serving as a means to better understand our macroscopic world through a transparent gaze in the future.
現代における風景画の手法を模索したいと考えています。典型的な一点透視の風景ではなく、多視点的で時間的厚みを持った作品を作りたいと思っています。また、風景画を受動的なものとして捉えるのではなく、能動的な表現に変えて、それが共同体のアイデンティティを醸成する可能性を追求していきたいと考えています。既存の枠組や構造に捉われず、現代の風景のための素朴でポジティブなフレームワークを編み出したいと考えています。
私の作品では、小ささや儚さといった微妙な気配の表現や、その集積の手法を探求しています。情報化が進む現代において場所の認知が画一的になり、物質性が希薄になる中で、私はその微細な存在感を大切にし、それが持つ重要性を表現したいと思っています。また、これらの小さな世界が透明な眼差しを通して、私たちの大きな世界を理解する手段として機能する未来を追求していきたいと考えています。
About
Junko Awatani was born in 1984 and is based in Tokyo. After completing her master’s degree in Architectural Design at Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2009, she worked at architectural and landscape design offices such as Junya Ishigami and Ryuji Nakamura. In the late 2010s, she began creating works exploring landscape and place.
Her recent major works include Sakutei (2022-), in which thin strips of washi paper colored with natural pigments are assembled into semi-three-dimensional landscapes, and The Landscape of the Sea (2021-2023), a daily color record of seascapes envisioned in her mind. She is exploring ways to create landscape paintings through the accumulation of subtle presences.
Junko Awatani 1984年生まれ、東京在住。2009年京都工芸繊維大学大学院工芸科学研究科建築設計学専攻修了後、石上純也や中村竜治などの建築設計事務所、ランドスケープデザイン事務所で働く。2010年代後半より風景や場所に関する作品をつくりはじめる。
近年の主な作品に、自然顔料で彩色した和紙を細く切り出し、半立体的に組み上げて風景をつくりだすSakutei (2022-) や、心に浮かんだ海の風景を色で日々記録するThe Landscape of the Sea (2021-2023) など。微かな存在感の集積による能動的な風景画の手法を模索している。
CV
Born 1984 in Japan
Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan
Education
| 2007 | Bachelor of Architecture, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan |
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| 2009 | Master of Architectural Design, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan |
Solo exhibitions
| 2025 | Sakutei, Gallery Saoh & Tomos, Tokyo, Japan |
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| 2019 | Drawings of Hope, terrasse Gallery, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2009 | A Garden, radlab., Kyoto, Japan |
Group exhibitions
| 2025 | Christmas Exhibition 2025, Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavík, Iceland |
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| Start Box × Meet Your Art Festival 2025, WHAT CAFE, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Start Box Exhibition Vol. 3, YAU Center, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2015 | Suujin Maintenance Club, Suujin Elementary School, Kyoto, Japan |
| 2009 | Tokyo Kenchiku Collection 2009, Hillside Terrace, Tokyo, Japan |
| Master Works Exhibition, Architectural Design, Kyoto Institute of Technology, The Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan |
Publications
| 2010 | Kenchiku Shinjin 001, “198n Beyond Architects”, Osamu Tsukihashi, Gakugei Shuppansha |
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| Tokyo Kenchiku Collection 2009, Kenchiku Shiryo Kenkyusha | |
| 2009 | The Kyoto Newspaper, “Junko Awatani Exhibition”, Mikako Sawada |
Awards
| 2009 | Dominique Perrault Award, Kyoto Institute of Technology |
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Residencies
| 2024 | Start Box, Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan |
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