infinity

“Deep Transparencies: A Hidden Universe” Bilding Bidges Art Exchange - Los Angeles’s Bergamot Station - curated by Marisa Caichiolo.

Eiko’s work in Deep Transparencies is unlike anything this viewer has ever seen – it features reverse paintings on Plexiglas concave surfaces with primarily black borders. With a palate that is primarily comprised of gold, reds, blacks on many of the works, while others are almost monochromatically grey/blue with circular imagery the works draw the viewer in hypothetically and immediately provokes questions.

How does she make this work – they seem counter-intuitive on some level and are so intriguing at the same time. They reminded this viewer of the work of Gustav Klimt with his dramatic gold toned painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer from the Vienna Secession movement. There is an inside/outside component to the work partially due to the unique bowl like form Eiko works from – the black border reflects the viewer and then the rhythmic spherical shapes entice the eye into the work, slowly working from the edges into the center and then back out again. It is a manipulation but then all good art is supposed to have that effect on one.

The blue/grey works are not presented on concave surfaces but rather flat ones but they too are compelling but in a different manner. Comprised of repetitive circles congregated on a horizontal plane, the eye is again drawn in, but since the images are crowded on the picture’s surface, almost in a layering fashion, there is an action to the viewer’s experience that doesn’t allow one to quickly look away - one is captivated, it’s fascinating. What more can an artist ask from a viewer?

- Foreground Art Magazine - Barbara Pflaumer