A Special Gallery Exhibition Featuring
Internationally Acclaimed Contemporary Artists,
Kim Henigman Bruce & Naoko Morisawa
March 2 – April 2, 2017
Opening First Thursday, March 2, 2017 6:00-8:30 pm
MATERIAL MEMORIES explores personal and cultural memory, metaphor, and mission, through work created in simple, ancient materials – beeswax (Kim Henigman Bruce) and wood or paper (Naoko Morisawa) – made relevant to a contemporary era. Both artists draw from their personal lives and their respective cultural history – Henigman Bruce is from Calgary, Canada and Morisawa, raised in Yokohama, Japan, currently resides in Seattle, WA.
Both women are highly skilled, independent artists from two distinctively different cultures and backgrounds, who share a common practice of art as a transcendent force for consciousness, social progress, and our common humanity.
Kim Henigman Bruce grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where she currently resides and received her arts education at The Alberta College of Art and Design and The University of Calgary. Her mother’s love of books was an early influence, and they’ve played a critical role as the key unifying object in her sculpture’s narratives. Books became a metaphor for knowledge; a message she’s honed well over many years as a professional artist with numerous international exhibitions.
Her work speaks predominantly to girls and women; often from cultures in which women have no choices other than those pre-determined by the culture’s tradition. “Knowledge is power and knowledge is empowering. There’s choice. When there is no alternative there is no choice.”
Ms. Bruce has elected not to attend the show’s opening in protest of this administration’s still-pending travel ban. The gallery stands with our artist and supports her decision without reservation. Her statement can be found here: http://kimbruce.ca/finding-my-conviction/
Naoko Morisawa, born in Tokyo, raised in Yokohama, Japan, and now residing in Seattle, received her BA in Design and Ceramics from Tama Art University, Tokyo. Her wood mosaics are contemporary updates of the traditional art of Japanese wood mosaic, yosegi, popular in Japan’s Edo Period (1615-1868). Drawing inspiration from this ancient cultural history, her hand-crafted mosaics – meticulously composed of hand cut wood and/or paper, and stained in brilliant, complimentary hues – reflect the spirit of Edo Japonism; Noh and Kabuki theatre; ukiyo-e; the traditions of Kimono design; and reverence for nature; as well as more personal, whimsical subjects. Morisawa, who also taught art in Tokyo and Yokohama, has created several public, site-specific installations throughout the Puget Sound region, has been featured in numerous juried national and international gallery exhibitions, won dozens of awards and honors, and was selected for The Dublin Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Dublin, Ireland. Immediately following the opening of “Material Memories”, she leaves for Texas where she’s included in the Women’s Invitational Exhibition 2017, at The Eisemann Center of Performing and Visual Arts in Richardson, TX. (www.naokomorisawa.com)
FREDERICK HOLMES AND COMPANY
GALLERY OF MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART
309 OCCIDENTAL AVENUE SOUTH
SEATTLE, WA 98104
(206) 682-0166
WWW.FREDERICKHOLMESANDCOMPANY.COM