Cette semaine, je suis heureuse de vous partager mon entretien avec la peintre japonaise, Miho Ichise.
Originaire d’une ville de la banlieue de Tokyo, Miho Ichise vit et travaille désormais à Fukuoka.
« The first time I realized that I had a strong urge to do something artistic in my life was when I was working at the Tokyo branch of a French bank. I think that sometimes by doing something so different or far from what you are, you can notice what you really want to do.»
A partir de cette prise de conscience, Miho Ichise quitte le japon et gagne l’Europe. Après un passage en France, c’est en Angleterre qu’elle sort diplômée en Fine Art du Chelsea College of Art and Design of London.
Depuis, la peinture accompagne sa vie au quotidien. Un quotidien qui occupe une place centrale dans l’œuvre de l’artiste. Il lui insuffle toutes ses compositions et éveille son imagination. À l’image des œuvres intitulées "Sparkler" (2021) et “Sparkler in Both Hands” (2021), il provoque en l’artiste comme des étincelles et une nécessité créatrice s’impose à elle. Miho Ichise exalte ces instants de vie par sa liberté à transcender les sentiments qu’ils suscitent en elle. Ainsi ces nouvelles narrations sont toutes traversées par une quiétude et une douceur. Guidée par son imaginaire et ses souvenirs, l’artiste nous donnent à voir des scènes hors du temps, délicates et où l’énergie de la lumière y tient un rôle narratif à part entière.
Originaire d’une ville de la banlieue de Tokyo, Miho Ichise vit et travaille désormais à Fukuoka.
« The first time I realized that I had a strong urge to do something artistic in my life was when I was working at the Tokyo branch of a French bank. I think that sometimes by doing something so different or far from what you are, you can notice what you really want to do.»
A partir de cette prise de conscience, Miho Ichise quitte le japon et gagne l’Europe. Après un passage en France, c’est en Angleterre qu’elle sort diplômée en Fine Art du Chelsea College of Art and Design of London.
Depuis, la peinture accompagne sa vie au quotidien. Un quotidien qui occupe une place centrale dans l’œuvre de l’artiste. Il lui insuffle toutes ses compositions et éveille son imagination. À l’image des œuvres intitulées "Sparkler" (2021) et “Sparkler in Both Hands” (2021), il provoque en l’artiste comme des étincelles et une nécessité créatrice s’impose à elle. Miho Ichise exalte ces instants de vie par sa liberté à transcender les sentiments qu’ils suscitent en elle. Ainsi ces nouvelles narrations sont toutes traversées par une quiétude et une douceur. Guidée par son imaginaire et ses souvenirs, l’artiste nous donnent à voir des scènes hors du temps, délicates et où l’énergie de la lumière y tient un rôle narratif à part entière.
La peintre Miho Ichise
Could you tell us about your background and how your art practice became your main focus?
I am from a suburb of Tokyo, Japan. The first time I realized that I had a strong urge to do something artistic in my life was when I was working at the Tokyo branch of a French bank. I think that sometimes by doing something so different or far from what you are, you can notice what you really want to do. Still, I enjoyed working in the bank to a certain extent. I then went to France, probably influenced by this bank being French and its atmosphere. There I took various art courses at private art studios and art schools in three cities: Toulouse, Angers and Paris. Eventually I went to England, where I had always wanted to go, and got a BA in fine art at Chelsea college of art and design in London. Since then I painted on and off throughout the different stages in my life, which took place in London, Berlin, Tokyo and Zurich. Since 2012 I have been focusing on painting up to today and I am based in Fukuoka now.
" I would like my work to be an open door to anybody where they can enter to enjoy a connection to their childhood or small excitement of daily life. "
Miho Ichise
Sparkler” (2021) 22.7x15.8cm, oil on linen
I Notice that you often depict details of a character’s body: you focus on hands, foot and this type of frame gives to your paintings a great intimacy. And if the character is painted very precisely the background become abstract. We cannot really know where the scene takes place. What do you want to highlight with these scenes ?
I like to paint an element of a scene just like a sign of implication so that the viewer can imagine another bigger picture which is not painted. I like indirect expressions, with which I can express feelings more directly in some situations. I also enjoy playing with a combination of figurative and abstract expressions. I think this mixture of the two expressions helps to lead viewers to focus on what I like to emphasize.
These frames and your closeness to the models let us think that they are from your personal surroundings. Is it the case ? Or do the scenes come from your imagination?
What I paint comes almost always from my life, often mediocre daily life. People depicted can be my family or someone less close but all from a scene of my life. Sometimes, I paint people I see in the street. I love painting figures but as a part of a scene or a situation.
On the contrary of these paintings with these frames and abstract backgrounds, you depict a lot of large scene in exterior. The green palette with great sunlights make up many of your paintings. The light becomes a real motif in your paintings as white or yellow dusts. Or the light creates shadows very marked. Could you speak about these works?
Lights and shadows are one of my favorite subjects. I also love greens. I like to paint light which really shines on the canvas, by which I mean the energy of light. Bright and dark always go together; when the light is stronger, the shadow becomes darker. I used to have a little negative image about shadows as symbols but lights and shadows do indeed complement each other. When you see a shadow, it lets you know that there is light too. So, I like to express the energy of light even when I emphasize shadows as a motif. Green to me is like a symbol of life; what thrives between light and shadow.
“Touch of the Sun” (2021), 22.7x22.7cm, oil on linen
Summer Evening” (2020), 33.5x24.5cm, oil on linen
You seem to catch ephemera scenes that you would have witnessed : a cat walking, a little girl tying her hair, someone holding a sparkler .. What is your specific way to create ? And Do you sketch or does the photography enter in your creative process ?
When I encounter a situation, which makes a spark in me, I take a photograph. I do not set up a scene. Amongst these photographs, I then have another spark which tells me to paint. Before I start to paint on a canvas I make a rough, simple sketch to decide a composition but never spend a lot of time. In my case, when I paint something physical that is in front of me, I tend to get too trapped by reality, whereas using a photo image gives me a certain freedom to create my world by taking extracts of an image, changing colors, adding other elements, etc.
Your compositions show a lot of childhood scenes. They took place in nature, parcs or at home. What do you like in the childhood's world? And how this topic came into your practice?
These scenes with children also come from my daily life. I paint my two children and their friends. I always realize though, when I look at my finished painting it is very much linked to my own childhood. I can remember the smell of the air, warmth of the sunlight, colours of green and the breeze touching my face from such scenes. I think this can also happen to viewers.
“Floating” (2020), 22.7x22.7cm, oil on linen
“Puddle” (2020), 22.7x22.7cm, oil on linen
You show also a lot of daily life and domestic life, everything looks very quiet and peaceful. What do you like in these atmospheres for your paintings ?
As my main subject is something a little special I find in my mediocre daily life, I like to spotlight what is overlooked and taken for granted in ordinary life. I would like my work to be an open door to anybody where they can enter to enjoy a connection to their childhood or small excitement of daily life. When I find a small excitement the feeling I have is quite similar to relief. Maybe that is why it can look quiet and peaceful.
You paint great textiles prints, you seem to be interested by textiles. Could you tell us about it ?
I like textiles but if they appear in my painting, that is because they happened to be there, in the scene that I wanted to paint. However, I think textiles help to create compositions and atmosphere.
Are there artists whose work has an influence on your own?
There are many artists I like and admire, from old masters to contemporary artists. Especially artists whose works I saw as an art student in museums during my stay in Europe must have made a great impact on me like
George de la Tour, Pierre Bonnard and many others. I get inspired by lots of contemporary artists on a daily basis too.
“Lifting Up the Sun” (2021) 22.7x15.8cm, oil on linen
“The Last Sunbathing of the Day” Oil on linen, 27.5x22cm, (2021)
“Sparkler in Both Hands” (2021), 38x45.5cm, oil on linen
“Writer” (2017), 24.5x33.5cm, oil on linen
“Tearing a Note” (2020) 22.7x15.8cm, oil on linen
“After the Party” (2020), 45.5x38cm, oil on linen
Pour ne rien manquer de l'actualité de l'artiste, rendez-vous sur sa page instagram :