Yutaka Kikutake Gallery is pleased to present Reina Mikame’s solo exhibition Looking at the line from July 30 to September 4, 2021. The exhibition features a selection of new paintings from the series of work “looking at the line,” which Mikame has been concentrating on in recent years.

I cannot see any lines in the scenery that extends before my eyes. So as to extract lines from it, I search within my field of vision.

My field of vision and the time I spent engaging with it become the grounds for the painting, just in the way lines are not only constituted in themselves but also their surroundings.

I consider the lines that I observed within the scenery, and attempt to reposition them in the composition of the painting.

In doing so, I find that now, the lines have certainly come to emerge before my eyes.

Reina Mikame

The series “Looking at the line” revolves around a certain place which the artist has repeatedly visited and sketched over the years during various seasons and times of day. Mikame discovers lines from within the landscape while confirming various elements such as people and buildings, to cars passing by, lights that turn on after sunset, natural light that changes with the weather, and the overall atmosphere including the temperature and humidity of that place. She interprets the landscape that spreads out before her eyes according to her relationship with these lines, and ultimately incorporates them into her paintings. Contrary to their seemingly abstract nature, this series of work is in fact replete with the artist’s meticulous contemplation and consideration for her theme and subject.

Through paintings, Mikame has continued to pursue how humans recognize the various scenery and things that lie in front of their eyes through perception, and what is necessary in order to sense and engrave them more deeply within their memory. With carefully considered brushstrokes she creates paintings while disassembling and reconstructing various elements related to perception such as lines and colors that give shape to things, as well as light that in itself can be regarded as a medium that serves to convey these to the human eye. In addition to “Looking at the line” such attempt, depending on the element of focus and manner of consideration as also observed in the titles of her other series of work including “Looking at the color” (also the title of her 2020 solo exhibition), “Weave the color” and “Distance of the light”, have culminated a rich variety of works. Mikami’s works appear to communicate to viewers that there is a means of perception that can be pursued and explored through the very medium and discourse of painting.