Act of Drawing:

Artwork by Etsuko Ichikawa

 

May 12, 2015 – June 20, 2015

 

Etsuko Ichikawa presents work from two ongoing series: glass pyrographs and smoke aquagraphs.

 

To make the pyrographs, Ichikawa makes swirling curves that capture the fluidity of smoke but reveal her method which actually scorches the paper. She uses molten glass on the surface to capture her emotive gestures. She works quickly and deliberately to prevent the paper from igniting and then she pulls off the quickly-hardening glass, it leaves a diaphanous record of a fleeting moment in time. She says “What lies in-between the ephemeral and the eternal has been the underlying concept of all my work, and this innovative process using fire allows me to record the immediacy of the moment.”

 

To make the aquagraphs, Ichikawa writes in Sanskrit, using little droplets of water on the surface of the paper. When she lights a candle underneath the paper, it builds up soot which in turn reveals the hidden images.   

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Etsuko Ichikawa moved to Seattle in 1993 to study glass at Pilchuck Glass School. She worked for Dale Chihuly before focusing on her own practice, which she started in 2003. She has received numerous awards, has placed her work in many collections throughout the world, and has exhibited her work in major museums, including the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum, and University of Wyoming Art Museum.