On the occasion of holding the exhibition

BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence Executive Committee Kenya Komai, Fisherman

　Hello everyone, I am the BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence Executive Committee member and fisherman Kenya Komai. After training as a fisherman in Lake Biwa, I became an independent fisherman, and usually work from the Wani fishing port in Otsu City to provide fishing experiences in Lake Biwa and freshwater life in Lake Biwa, which is unique to Shiga. One such initiative is the BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence exhibition project.
This is the third year of the exhibition, and some 20 artists from all over Japan have visited Lake Biwa and been involved in the creation of artworks.
This year’s exhibition features works by four artists from the Kansai region – an embroidery artist, a playwright, a painter and a three-dimensional artist – who have never before been to Lake Biwa, and whose works were created during their stay at the lake. The fisherman’s experience includes a two-day and one-night eri fishing experience in September, followed by a shellfish trawl fishing experience in several different areas, which is different from the previous year. The works were created during a three-month residency in the area with the cooperation of the Art Preparatory Office Hysen, which provided accommodation and accommodation facilities. The fishermen’s work experience was mainly focused on the traditional fishing method of eri fishing, which involves waiting for the fish to be caught, and whitebait fishing in Seta, which is famous for its seta whitebait. This is a way of life in Lake Biwa that can only be understood by visiting the area.
　The title of the third exhibition is Fishermen and Artists – in the space between the sea and the island.
The title was decided upon in discussions between the four artists who took part in the exhibition.
Nami is ‘wave’ and shima is ‘island’ of land, and also ‘state’, which is usually submerged at the bottom of the sea river lake. States can also appear in Lake Biwa when the water level is low. The image is also linked to the contrast between the upper and lower sides of the lake surface, and between curved (wavy) and straight (striped) lines. Awai means ‘between’, but as a sound, it is a pun on ‘pale’ of freshwater. We hope that you will enjoy viewing the works while reading the statements of each of the artists in this exhibition and seeing how they have expressed these thoughts. I would like to introduce the production process of each artist in the order in which they were viewed. In the lab in front of you, there is an exhibition of works by this year’s participating artists.
　Painter Ueda-san’s work is an oil painting of what he felt at the lake on three huge canvases. The theme of boundaries and the transparent fibres behind the actual waves are the distinguishing features of the paintings. While each of them is an everyday reflection of Lake Biwa, the artist conveys through the waves the changing expressions of Lake Biwa on a daily basis.
　Embroidery artist Pom’s planned production is a group of works interweaving oil painting and embroidery. The theme of the lake’s bottom remains, set in Sugaura, a historical conservation area in the north of the lake, is characterised by the fact that it is a map of the lake but may also look like an island, and the stitched thread lines of movement.
　The sculptor Ikeda has created curves from materials with linear elements, such as the original square shape of the newspaper and the printed image of a swimming fish from Lake Biwa. The form of the fish, but also the pattern of its fins, the length of its beard and its dynamism, are faithfully reproduced.
　The playwright Sugimoto expresses the waves of Lake Biwa through the sound produced by vibrating the tateboshi mussels, a species endemic to Lake Biwa, from his experience of whitebait fishing. The work expresses not only the waves of Lake Biwa, but also the voices of creatures living in Lake Biwa that cannot normally be heard, which seem to be extended and conveyed through the microphone.　We hope that through the works of these artists, visitors to the exhibition will be able to notice the fishery, lifestyle, food and scenery unique to Lake Biwa, which are different from those of the past, and experience a new Shiga at this time.
　In the pop-up gallery at the rear of the exhibition, Fumiko Takeo, who has not only been involved in the management of the exhibition as a leader from her position as a first-time participant, but has also continued to create artworks, will exhibit a group of artworks that she has continued to express. We hope that the works created over a period of three years will provide an opportunity to look at Lake Biwa from a different time axis to that of the four artists who visited us this time.
　We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art for its cooperation in the project to make Shiga an art museum for everyone, the Shiga Town Fishery Cooperative Association for providing a fishing environment, Toyokami Suisan for its cooperation in providing a whitebait fishing experience, Chisho Tsukamoto, a fisherman from Okijima who cooperated as a fisherman from another region, and Chisho Tsukamoto, a fisherman from Kaizu. Shiho Tsukamoto, Shisei Miyazaki, Shiho Tamura and Shisei Miyazaki, fishermen from Kaizu, Ryusei Suisan, fishermen from Hikone, Hira Shizen Vegetable Garden for providing vegetables, Art Preparation Room Hysen for providing a place for long-term stay, and HOURAIMarche management members for providing an outdoor interim presentation, We would also like to thank the Mother Lake Goals Promotion Committee for their support from the beginning, and Yu Matsumoto, Fumiko Takeo, Shioriyu Shimomura, Eri Nakanishi and Toruko Yoshida, who worked with us as artists and members of the BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence Executive Committee to create this project. We would like to express our gratitude to them.

Greetings.
Representative of the BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence Executive Committee Ayako Takeo
It has been two years since I became interested in fish weir traps and started creating them; in 2022 I participated in the BIWAKO Artist-in-Residence as one of the artists, and since last year I have also been involved in its management, and this year I am acting as its representative. In the course of these activities, my driving force has been my desire to continue drawing piles that I have not yet been able to depict, and my wish to get to know Lake Biwa from a different point of view. In this pop-up gallery, I express through my works the Lake Biwa I have continued to gaze at. I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to the four artists who have given me new insights, and to fisherman Mr Komai and artist Mr Matsumoto for giving me the chance to encounter a motif that I still want to pursue.

trace-Eri-
900mm x 2500mm
2024
When light passes through a prism, it forms a continuous band of colours, like a rainbow. These bands of colour are called ‘spectra’.
The phenomenon of light being divided according to its different wavelengths is called ‘spectroscopy’. I focused on this spectral phenomenon.
I have focused on this spectral phenomenon and have attempted to visually bring out the light contained in materials and landscapes by using the light-sensitive function of photocopiers.
I am attempting to bring out the light contained in materials and landscapes visually by using the light-sensitive function of a photocopier. I am attempting to visually bring out the light contained in materials and landscapes by utilising the light-sensitive function of the photocopier.
I try to bring out visually the light contained in materials and landscapes through the duality of ‘material’ and ‘light’.
Through this duality of ‘material’ and ‘light’, I try to bring out the inner life and presence of the subject.
In 2022 and 2023 I had the opportunity to sail on Lake Biwa before dawn. In the darkness of the night,
In the darkness of the night, I rowed out and saw only the black expanse of the lake in front of me, with only the sound of the waves and the boat engines around me.
The only sound around me was the sound of the waves and the boat’s engine. As night falls, the sky gradually changes from dark to deep blue and then to a beautiful gradation of blue and red.
The spectrum of colours is a beautiful gradation of the lake’s surface. The spectrum of colours is shimmering on the waves of the lake and overlaps with my vague gaze.
The spectrum of colours is shimmering in the waves of the lake and overlaps with my hazy gaze. On the lake, tracing the lake, I wonder how I exist and how I am connected to my surroundings,
I try to observe how I exist and how I am connected to my surroundings.

trace a lake
02:23
2024
When working on a lake, fishing traps catch the eye. They are still there even as the landscape changes with the wind and waves.
They are there, unchanged, even as the landscape changes with the wind and waves, and they seem to be ‘indicators’ of my position on the lake.
They are like ‘indicators’ of your position on the lake. These devices are not just part of the landscape. At first glance they appear to stand quietly on the lake.
It may appear to stand quietly on the lake, but underneath the lake it acts as a fish trap and is surrounded by countless living creatures.
I think of this trap as if it were a ‘living thing’. I felt like a ‘living creature’ in this trap. I felt as if it were a ‘living thing’.
I took photographs of the fish from the boat, processed them into slides and added drawings to give them new movement.
I am attempting to create a new form of expression by photographing them from the boat, processing them into slides and adding drawings to give them new movement.