Interview with Yuki Koida
Japan-residing readers may have seen some of woodblock print artist Yuki Koida's artwork on sale in the Japanese Scandinavian interior and gift store, ILLUMS. With the superbly-judged application of acrylic paint on top of the clean-cut shapes of her printed objects, Koida's works manage to throw off the somehow idyllic, pastoral quality that clings to most works of the woodblock print genre. Despite the sense of warmth in the kind of things she takes as her subjects, such as woolly hats and wooden razors, her pictures are resonant with a kind of tension that makes those confronted with them pull themselves up straighter. Amongst the fans of her refined artwork, which becomes any room however modern, Koida can count a good number of active graphic designers, and although she might not be a prolific artist, her earnest belief in her own work is resolute. We went to visit the quiet residential area where she has her studio, and spoke to her about her work. From seeing your art, and also the way that you select the things around you - the books in this studio, for instance, and the way that you've decorated it - I get the sense that you've been used to looking at well-designed things since you were a child.
Yes, from the time that I was old enough to know what was going on around me, there were always lots of different creative types around. Both of my parents went to art school, and particularly with my dad being an architect, I was brought up surrounded by creative people from really every kind of field. Even though I was just a child, I always thought that their lives seemed fun. We had Scandinavian furniture in our house, and I would read Hanatsubaki, (the lifestyle magazine produced by Shiseido). I don't think I even knew the title of it at the time, but I think I got the sense that what I was looking at was in some sense 'the real thing'. So for me, it was totally natural to go on to pursue arts-related study after I finished school.
Have you been doing woodblock prints since university?No, I took Lifestyle Design at university, so I studied the design of chairs, tables, cutlery, and things like that. I also had classes in editing, architecture, product design and so on, but printmaking I taught myself. After I graduated art school, I put on private exhibitions in galleries and did part time jobs, but after five years or so I realised that I couldn't go on doing that, so I decided to start making my own stuff.
So you've been doing woodblock prints since then?
I started off making silkscreen prints, but then after I joined a course at the Sannohe Printart Studio in Aomori Prefecture as an undergraduate student, I began to make woodblock prints. I felt that I could get my individuality across better that way.
Your works often feature the kind of objects that you have around you, like plates and shoes.
I suppose that subconsciously, I like for the things that I see every day, the things around me, to be beautiful and brilliant. Even just with things like plastic bottles, I definitely don't like for them to be badly designed. It's the sort of thing I'm incapable of ignoring. Things which don't really matter end up mattering to me nonetheless. It can't just be any old chair; it has to be one where I think, I really want to sit on this chair. So I think that when I'm making work, my eye naturally falls on the things which are lying around me.
The subjects and the general feel of your artwork, and then the fact that it's on sale in ILLUMS, all suggests a strong Scandinavian connection.
What I like about Scandinavia, not just its design but also its towns and people and so forth, is that it has a kind of simplicity which nonetheless gives the sense of a kind of fundamental richness. I was also brought up with Scandinavian-designed furniture around the house, so I probably have an affiliation with it that stems from there. That's definitely something that I inherited from my parents.
Actually, the people who know me seem to think that I'm making work with an exclusively Scandinavian theme, although I don't intend for it to be like that. So I've realised that I have to express my own personality in my works a bit more from now on. I say that, and yet I don't think I'll ever stop loving Scandinavian stuff... (laughs).
The motifs that you use in your work are incredibly simple, pared down to the extent that the form of the objects depicted changes entirely. Is the application of acrylics on top of them a way of supplementing the bareness of those forms?I like everything to be simple, including human relationships. I don't like excess. I only want the essential bits. Accessories don't interest me. When I'm making work, I like to pare things down as much as possible. I think that process of paring down is how I display my individuality.
(Pointing to the waffle picture). For example, waffles have lots of concave parts. That's how the texture and the shadows come about. The shadows have a rough outline. That's where the charm of waffles lies for me. Also the colour seems to me not like the colour of food at all. I find it a very beautiful colour.
So when you recreate the waffle with only the parts that attract you, it turns out like this, you mean?
Yes. Those probably aren't the parts that strike other people, but there's a moment, when waffles are placed on the table, when the way in which the light hits them makes them very beautiful. Those kinds of things are important to me. If I don't grasp what it is that draws me to something, then it's as if I'm doing that object a disservice and the picture I produce ends up as just a design, which only serves a complementary function.
I suppose that making work has always been like that for you. Each individual piece demands a kind of tension, or energy. I actually love being tense. And I hate hanging around doing nothing. I'm happy when, rather than sitting around drinking tea with everyone and talking about inconsequential things, I've set a goal for myself and then, after much conflict, finally reached it. So basically, I don't really mind if people don't like me. Rather than having them like me based on a misunderstanding, it feels better for me if I know that people simply dislike me. Then I can just think, ah, they don't like me. (Laughs).
It's maybe that attitude that gives your work its sense of tension (laughs). When you're making your work, do you ever consult others' opinions?
No, definitely not. When I show my work to someone with a good eye who I respect, I wonder what they will say. Whether the verdict is good or bad, I'm fine about it. But obviously I'd be happy if it was good.
In a lot of ways, you refuse to take shortcuts. You don't do something that won't leave you satisfied, even if you know it's a long way around. But your pictures have a sense of individuality which makes itself known from the first instant, and your fans are multiplying. So, last of all, can you tell us a bit about how you would like things to go from now on?
I'd like more people to see my artwork, particularly people from around the world. 「Also, I'd like to make pictures where I'd feel able to stand in front of people who belong to the forefront of literature, science and the like, genres totally different from art, and say with confidence,
"this here is my work".
Text_Kenji Mori (BUILDING)
Translation_Polly BartonYuki Koida
Born in Tokyo.
Graduated from Musashino Art University.
Completed course at Sannohe Printart Studio, Aomori Prefecture.
She has been working as an artist since 1997, producing work for magazines, corporate collaborations, private exhibitions etc.
http://yukikoida.com/
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