3 – 19 November 2022
about the exhibition
Kyoko Imazu is a Melbourne based artist born in Japan whose dreamlike work encompasses a range of mediums including printmaking, papercut, puppetry, bookbinding, ceramics and installation. Inspired by the tiny creatures of our natural world, as well as characters from Japanese folklore, Kyoko tells whimsical stories of exploration and adventure. Within ‘Small big things’, her first solo exhibition at Beaver Galleries, we are introduced to her world of magic and wonder. Landscapes teeming with life, both real and imagined, are alive with movement. As she plays with scale, these tiny worlds, become huge as flittering beetles and floating seeds swirl dreamlike around her compositions. “My work tells the stories of our often overlooked neighbours like the weeds, bugs and pebbles that fill our everyday lives. Upon closer inspection, every petal, leaf and wing is miraculously unique; they all have their own stories and universes within themselves, containing many states of life, death and regeneration. I use the stories of these tiny neighbours to imagine the worlds we cannot see with our own eyes”. Kyoko’s technical virtuosity as a printmaker is exemplified in the intricacy of her line work and use of the technique of aquatint to create the most delicate and refined tonal washes. Kyoko’s exquisite ceramics further inform her world as she creates these playful imagined creatures. Across all of her practice the intriguing nature of her work draws the audience in, opening up new worlds and perspectives.
Kyoko graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2007. In the last decade she has been included in over 100 exhibitions throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the USA. Kyoko has undertaken numerous residencies and, in 2017, she was awarded a fellowship by the State Library Victoria to undertake a residency at Baldessin Press & Studio. In 2019, she was a finalist in the Geelong Acquisitive Print Awards, Megalo International Print Prize and the Fremantle Arts Centre Print Awards. Her works are held in several public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, State Library of Queensland and State Library of Victoria.
