A great contemporary artist must satisfy several criteria
Acknowledgment of tradition, cultural and artistic, yet transcending it; mastery of technique and creative use thereof; articulated philosophy; and the ‘x’ factor - the artist’s unique spiritual expression which inspires the inexpressible ‘wow’ that announces the presence of greatness.
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Contemporary screen artist, Maio Motoko satisfies these criteria.
Trained as a mounter of traditional scrolls then motivated by a search for truly individual expression, Motoko sought mastery of Japanese screen making, learning to make the entire framework herself.
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Her work remains true to the traditional function of the folding screen. Her technical innovation - double hinges, differentially sized folds and reverse sided decoration - enables a flexibility of form and transformation of physical space that transcends the original intention and elevates her work to contemporary scupltural art
As functional and installation art, Maio's works give unprecedented flexibility to the transformation of space and to the playful creative instincts of the owner of the work.
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As sculptural objects her works stand in a variety of formations, none of which hint to its other manifestations.
Maio brings to the canvas of the folding screen mundane materials - aluminium foil, kimono fabric, washi enscribed with book keeping figures, crushed stone, sand, dirt, iron rust - that provide a freedom of colour and texture unimaginable in traditional work.
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Expressions of the fleeting, transient nature of life, her pieces are both painting and object, decorative and functional – a bewitchingly ambivalent form.
Maio’s artistic concept embodies the contradictions and harmonies of Yin and Yang and their manifestation in human experience.
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Confronting and exploring the universality of human experience she is unafraid to express the negative, the dark, the decay and transience of life. By juxtaposing it with the positive, light and fecund her works not only create a seductive aesthetic but reach out to the psyche with powerful, visceral impacts.
