diary.j20_200112

30th.Dec. "packing up the last exhibition of our 2001 marathon"

Emily and Sean were a great help packing up my exhibition.

This year has been quite a marathon for Kata and me - starting with our joint exhibition in Sendai in May; Kata`s solo exhibitions in Cambridge in June, and Aberdeen in August & Septmeber; my solo exhibition in Tokyo in June; then both of us having solo exhibitions in Morioka this month - all 3 of my exhibitions showed different work, and although Kata showed some of the same drawings in all his exhibitions there were major new pieces of work shown for the first time in each one.

26th.Dec. "Boxing Day"

After such a wonderful few days with the Hier family it was rather sad to say goodbye to them at Morioka station thie evening.
But Emily and Sean soon perked up with a few games of Twister, which nearly killed Kata and me - last time I played this game I must have been a lot more supple!
(KT)

25th.Dec. "Happy Christmas"


Emily, Sean and Eldon were delighted with their stockings. and loved all their presents - thank you very much to all the family who sent gorgeous things over.	Eldon, Emily, Megan, and Sean got on beautifully, no fights over toys - 4 children making the magic of Christmas very real for all of us.	The Turkey dressed and ready for the oven.	Garry cooked us all a perfect Turkey feast.
		A beautiful sunny day spent playing in the snow waiting for the Turkey to cook, the children even gave us time out to relax in the sunshine with a jug of bucks fizz while they sledged, etc. with Megan watching from her pushchair
Charlotte, Eldon and Garry	Charlotte and Megan	Many many thanks to the Hier family who made this the best Christmas we have ever had here.	The Hier family debating the merits of thier new winter holiday house in Ukishima.

24th.Dec. "Christmas Eve"

		While Kata was entertaining over 90 visitors to his exhibition : Charlotte, Garry, Eldon, Megan, Emily & her school friend Chinatsu chan, Sean and I spent the day making 3 snowmen, 1 snow house, sledging, & snowballing - with Eldon pinching Chinatsu chan and Emily`s stockpiles with such charm that they ended up supplying him with more to pelt at Garry and me, but it was Garry who did the classic of socking me full in the eye when I stood up at exactly the wrong moment.
Charlotte and Kate discussing tactics for the order of presents.	the combined booty of the Hier and Katagiri families under the tree made a fantastic hoard	Kata arrived back from his exhibition at 9pm in time to say goodnight to 4 excited children, and help with the last minute wrapping. (KT)

24th.Dec., "Mori taking Photograph, and taking the show down"

Mori san taking photographs of Kata`s exhibition on the last day.
Kata then packed up the show in the evening.

22nd.Dec.,"Behind the Reception Desk" Hironori Katagiri "Light and Silence" Exhibition


Sumiko san and Kate manning the reception desk	Meanwhile Emily and Sean were behind the desk	both drawing wonderful pictures of horses while waiting for our friends Charlotte & Garry Hier and their children Eldon & Megan to arrive from Narita to stay for Christmas.

22nd.Dec. "Hironori Katagiri`s exhibition "Light and Silence" 19th - 24th Dec.
at the Morioka City Culture Foundation in the "Marios" building west of Morioka station (9:00 am - 7:00 pm).

		Kata is also exploring the theme of light with a central sculpture light and video installation surrounded by large scale black and white drawings (some of which were recently exhibitied in the Japan 2001 Festival in the UK at Cambridge University and Aberdeen city`s Peacock Gallery), and dramatic new rainbow drawings up to 9m long on hand made Nepalese paper. Changing light is almost impossible to represent in snap photos, but this gives a rough impression of the exhibition.
		Emily and Sean thought it was all great, they particularly liked the the 9m long rainbow drawing, and were so thrilled with the video that they spent ages jumping into the water, as did all children who visited the exhibition (adults tended to paddle unless they thought no-one was looking). (KT)

18th.Dec.,"Katagiri's "Light and Silence" exhibitione Opened"

Amazingly, and with the help of a wonderful team of specialists, we managed to set up Kata`s exhibition of drawings, sculpture video and light installation with 2 minutes to spareto change into party clothes for the opening (KT).


Akechi, Mori and Kate hanging all the drawings	the carpenter and his three assisants putting together the bases for the lighting and sculpture.	Roppongi and Wakamatsu helping Kata to set up the video

Nakajo san from the Yamagiwa Corporation who supplied the colour diode lighting helping programme the lighting gradation,	Chikako Maida arrived early for the opening party and ended up being delegated to hold the fort at the reception desk while we did a quick change out of working clothes	The reception desk at the end of the entrance corridor designed by the architect Wakamatsu looked much better than it does in this snap.

17th.Dec.,"Akechi is Back"

Our good friend the sculptor Akechi came up to help with the final preparations for Kata`s show - made the title board for the entrance to the gallery, etc. Working til 3am to get things ready was good fun with Akechi there. (KT)

16th.Dec.,"Filming at the seaside in Tanahata"

Kata made the perilous journey on icy mountain roads to the Pacific coast at Tanahata in Iwate to film the sea for the video installation in his exhibition. (KT)

15th.Dec.,"Teeth in Coca cola"

Emily decdied to try the coca cola test on the mild teeth she had taken out by the orthodentist today (says she does not believe in the tooth fairy any more so does not need to save them to put under her pillow). I am hoping the rapid decay that they will see over the next few days will put Emily and Sean off drinking the stuff ever again. (KT)

13th.Dec.,"Sean's Kawaguchi Kindergarden Happyoukai"

		Dances, music & percussion concerts, taiko drumming, plays, etc.. all performed by the children for the audience of adoring parents and grandparents. Sean was brilliant as the wicked wizard in the play (looked rather like a student at Hogwarts), but got his biggest round of applause for his pronounciation of the word "blue" in the English game. (KT)
Sean 3rd from left	Sean as the villain in the main play	Kata unfortunately missed all of this as he is busy finishing off work for hi exhibition opening next week.

12th.Dec.,"Mori san taking Photographs of Kate`s marble light sculptures"

Mori san spent all day in Morioka Crystal Gallery photographing 7 of the 12 sculptures in my exhibition.
While the gallery was cluttered with all the photography equipment both the "Morioka Times" and "Iwate Nippo" newspapers decided to come and do interviews with me - not the best time to see the exhibition.
An interesting challenge to balance the 2 journalists interrupting each other, at the same time as trying to keep up communication with Mori about which angles and particular colours within the changing lighting to photograph. Will be interesting to see how the 2 newspaper articles and the photographs turn out.
The national English language newspaper "The Japan Times" printed a very positive review of my exhibition today if you would like to see it please go to: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fa20011212a2.htm

10th.Dec.,"Sean's English Homework"

Sean is getting really keen on studying his English reading and writing - if we can keep this up bi-literate may not be as tricky as I feared. (KT)

9th.Dec.,"Kate in Art Nandemo Sodan event at the new Iwate Museum of Art"

When I woke up this morning I felt so tired after completing my exhibition, and celebrating the opening til late with friends last night, that I was not at all keen to have to go into town to be one of the 4 consultant artists meeting the public today. But once it all got going all the people asking me questions were so interested and interesting that they gave me a wonderful energy hit, and the day turned out to be great fun.
We then took Emily and Sean to see the "Harry Potter" film in the evening - a long term promise to make up for the fact that both Kata and I have been so busy lately.
Emily and Sean want to go and see it again, which I would also like to do as by the time we got to the cinema even "Harry Potter" could not keep me awake. (KT)

Sean playing in the entrance hall waiting for Mummy to go to "Harry Potter"

If you would like to see the article I wrote for "The Japan Times" on the new Iwate Mueum of Art please got to:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fa20011107a2.htm

8th.Dec. "Opening party" Kate Thomson Exhibition of Marble Light Sculptures
at Morioka Crystal Gallery, 8th - 29th December 2001

The opening went very well, everyone seemed to think my new sculptures were rather gorgeous which was encouraging, (KT)

Exhibition statement

Light has always been important in my work, particularly in the large scale outdoor sculptures where the way natural light articulates the form is a crucial concern from design to completion. Realising that the variety of colours of natural light in different times of day, seasons, and countries, changed the perception of the form I decided to experiment with coloured and changing light. In this exhibition I am using sculpture to articulate light with hand carved and polished marble sculptures housing the latest technological development in diode colour kinetic lighting, which allows me to control the gradation of subtle hues through the full spectrum, and cross fade from one particular chosen colour to another. The lustrous quality of the marble radiates the light through and around its form, while the surrounding light in the gallery adds to the dimensions of the subtle yet vivid variation of the colour kinetics. My fascination for light is strongly influenced by living in the countryside of north Japan where the seasonal solar, lunar and stellar cycles are a very dramatic and beautiful part of our environment. Four of the seven pillars of light in the exhibition ("The Longest Night", "Spring Equinox", "The Longest Day", & "Autumn Equinox") represent the four seasons, and the installation as a whole suggests the weekly, monthly and annual cycles which have fascinated man since the beginning of civilisation (with titles like "Moon Dance") , at the same time as highlighting the concept that all cultures have illuminating insight to offer (most clearly expressed in "The Book of Light"). Human fascination with and folly in the face of these natural phenomena is expressed in "Icarus" The concept of the exhibition is that light represents ideas and inspiration and the passing of time, electric light symbolises modern energy, stone represents permanence and tradition, different lighting highlights different perceptions, while the movement of changing light anticipates the continuing evolution of civilisation through the mutual understanding and appreciation of different cultures. Although the exhibition is designed as one installation each piece is carefully worked in Italian marble to create an elegant individual form. In daylight the sculptures catch the ambient natural light and reflect it through the shape to articulate the internal and external movement of the form, allowing the sculpture to act as a sensor for the daily variations in light and respond to them. In electric light the interior space becomes the main focus of attention, inviting closer exploration of the distant source. KT December 2001

7th.Dec.,"Setting up Kate`s exhibition of light sculptures at Morioka Crystal Gallery

		I am very excited about this exhibition which is the first public showing of my new work in marble illuminated with diode colour kinetic lighting. As I am intending to develop this new direction in public art commissions next year I would be very grateful for feedback from as many people as possible visiting the exhibition. I have written some notes on my concept for the exhibition below.
Initial chaos	The exhibition nearly set up

6th.Dec.,"Snowed 20cm"

		The first heavy snow is early this year. The children are enjoying the virgin snow - sledging and running around after dark, and catching snowflakes to explore under the microscope before they melt.
white out	snow crystals
		The final panic for my exhibition - the finishing touches to the marble light sculptures, fixing pins, packing the work for transport to the gallery, etc..
Emily and Sean still sledging	Kate still working	Kate has to set up her exhibition tomorrow

5th.Dec.British Ambassador`s visit "20th Anniversary of Iwate British Japan Society"

The British Ambassador Sir Stephen Gomersall was here all day (the morning and lunch here at Ukishima Sculpture Studio, the afternoon in Koiwai and the Iwate Prefectural Government office, and the evening in Morioka for the celebration of 20th Anniversary of the Iwate British Japan Society at the New Wing hotel where Sir Stephen gave a wonderful lecture before the party.
All went very well, strange to spend a day with so many police in attendance (which must have got our neighbours suspiscions arroused) but a lovely break from work! (KT)

3rd.Dec., "1st.Snow Man"

snowman has come.