Michelle Zacharias - Artist in Tokyo

Michelle Zacharias

I'm an artist in Tokyo, Japan

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I speak English and Japanese

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My activity

About me

Too artsy for the conservatives, and too conservatives for the artsies. Analogue etching and coloured pencil in a digital age. Being on the outside is no problem, since I am tall enough to stand on my toes and peek inside. Visual/verbal? That's me!

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My Creations

  1. Celebration

    14 December 2015
    Celebration

    Six wooden panels of coloured pencil. Drawn to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese (AFWJ.org) with a show at Space Galleria in Chiba City. Purposefully large for visual impact to show that the show was one by pros, not hobbyists. Coloured pencils might have... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  2. Season's Greetings

    25 December 2015
    Season's Greetings

    Happy holidays to you and yours! (Not real snow but the tree at the Kitte building covered in artificial snow will have to do for this Canadian girl.)

  3. Image Show at Gallery Camellia

    18 February 2018
    Image Show at Gallery Camellia

    Next week's group show at Gallery Camellia in the Okuno bldg is a group of artists who usually use colour but have to work around the theme, 黒 (Black), chosen by Nana Masuda. When she first mentioned the theme, I remembered an etching of mine called, Willowy Darkness. I have... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  4. Aiko and Heart Tokushima

    6 October 2018
    Aiko and Heart Tokushima

    Heart Tokushima is a no-kill animal shelter run by Susan Mercer and Hitoshi Tojo outside of Tokushima City, Japan. It is hard to believe that a volunteer-run animal shelter in rural Shikoku could take care of 250+ animals, sometimes more, and both receive them and send them all over Japan... continue reading (3, 1 image)

  5. Trade Routes

    14 June 2019
    Trade Routes

    This one of two dust paintings on paper as part of my Asian Winds series currently on display at Cafe 104.5, and both use dust from the Ochanomizu area collected by the cafe's curator. I started making Anthropocene art after becoming sensitive to pollution in the air, specifically fine particulate... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  6. News! ニュース！(English follows Japanese)

    10 August 2019
    News! ニュース！(English follows Japanese)

    アントロポセンの物質 | Anthropocenic Matter
    ミシェル・ザカライアス | Michelle Zacharias
    2019.8.9-10.9
    月-金 | Mon-Fri 3-8pm
    土日休廊 | Closed on Sat/Sun

    九州と首都圏を拠点に活動するカナダ人アーティストのミシェル・ザカライアスは、大気のように広がるイメージが特徴的なドローイングとペインティングを主に手掛けています。正体の定かではない線や形の集まりからなるザカライアスのほぼ抽象的ともいえるイメージの多くは、空気の流れといった不定形の移ろいゆく現象を扱っており、さもなければ視界に映らないものへと姿を与え、日常の認識の世界へとそれらを誘います。

    本展では、精製された埃によるモノクロームのドローイングである「Asian Winds」（亜細亜の風）シリーズから二点を紹介します。このシリーズは、ザカライアスが様々な場所へと出かけ、その空気に含まれる微粒子を抽出することで収集した顔料でドローイングを制作するものです。このプロセスによって生まれた色は、その場所のみならず、その場所が世界の他の場所とどのような関係にあるかも示しており、サイトスペシフィックであると同時に関係性的なものといえるでしょう。このいわば「ファウンド・ピグメント」を用いてザカライアスが描くモチーフには、水と風の流れに覆われた地球のイメージが度々含まれています。そのようにして、ザカライアスのモチーフとプロセスと素材のすべては、地球上のあらゆる場所が、その上を巡るさまざまな循環によって、複雑かつ必然的に結びついていることを表現しています。まるで旅行記のように、ザカライアスの作品はひとりの観察者と無数の旅する物質が、ほんの少しのあいだ、この地球の上のどこかでひとつの場所をともにしたできことを記録しています。展示される作品のひとつは展示会場である美学校の埃を用いたものであり、もうひとつの指先で描かれた抽象的なドットの一群は北九州の埃を用いています。

    ザカライアスのディープ・エコロジカルな美学は、人間の活動が地球環境に甚大な集合的影響を与えていることが明らかになったアントロポセンの時代をよく反映しています。もはや「人間の手がまだ触れない」ものとしての自然は存在しませんが、人間／自然の二項対立に基づいたこの古い幻想の代わりに、この世界のこれまで気づかれることのなかった側面を発見する新しい意識と感性が生まれつつあります。ザカライアスのドローイングには微細な色の違いがあり、その各々の色味は透明と思われていたはずの空気の中にたしかに存在する微視的な物質の独自の構成を表しています。そしてその構成は、自然界のできごとだけではなく、周辺の工業活動や都市生活にも大きく影響を受けています。私たちはその物質の中で生活し、それらを体内に取り込んでさえいます。ともすれば存在を認識されないこれらの事物を色彩へと捉えることで、ザカライアスの描き出す「空気の色」は現象の世界において人と人ならざるものの領域の境界線を動かし、私たち人間の存在を、同じひとつの世界において、他の様々な物体とともに埋め込まれたものとして再定義します。

    ミシェル・ザカライアス：
    日本に20年以上住んでいるカナダ人アーティスト。今日本のアーティストかカナダのアーティスト？　いつでも、どこでも、新人の感じをして、中からじゃなくて外から見られる気がする。主に色鉛筆を使って制作活動を行っており、京都芸術祭で国際芸術賞を受賞した。複雑な色使いと混沌とした作風が保守的だとか、芸術的すぎるとの批評家のコメントも理解しているが、彼女にとって芸術とは、商業的でも概念的でもなく、自分自身が楽しんで取り組むものなのだ。
    （アーティスト自身によるステートメント）
    VIEWED FROM THE OUTSIDE (作家ウェブサイト) www.mzacharias.com

    -
    Tana Gallery Bookshelf is pleased to present a solo exhibition of artwork by Canadian artist Michelle Zacharias... continue reading (3, 1 image)

  7. Latest Dust Painting: Derecho

    13 June 2020
    Latest Dust Painting: Derecho

    Derecho デレチョ　
    Dust, ink, gum arabic, and honey on panel
    パネル、ダスト、墨、アラビックガム、蜂蜜
    59 cm x 59 cm

    A derecho comes from the Spanish word with the same spelling that means ‘straight’. In English, a derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind that moves rapidly in a straight line and is associated with... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  8. Beyond the Screen: Dust 4

    23 August 2020
    Beyond the Screen: Dust 4

    This rough sketch was made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    With social isolation, I see the outside through my screened windows a lot more than I do otherwise. Dust that flew in through the window... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  9. The Screen and Beyond: Dust 1

    23 August 2020
    The Screen and Beyond: Dust 1

    This rough sketch was made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    With social isolation, I see the outside through my screened windows a lot more than I do otherwise. Dust that flew in through the window... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  10. The Screen and Beyond: Dust 3

    23 August 2020
    The Screen and Beyond: Dust 3

    This rough sketch was made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    With social isolation, I see the outside through my screened windows a lot more than I do otherwise. Dust that flew in through the window... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  11. The Screen and Beyond: Circles 1

    24 August 2020
    The Screen and Beyond: Circles 1

    Made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    This tiny, coloured pencil sketch is from one of two series in this online show and from a larger project in which I was drawing circles as abstracted sunset... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  12. Beyond the Screen: Circles 2

    24 August 2020
    Beyond the Screen: Circles 2

    Made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    This tiny, coloured pencil sketch is from one of two series in this online show and from a larger project in which I was drawing circles as abstracted sunset... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  13. The Screen and Beyond: Circles 4

    24 August 2020
    The Screen and Beyond: Circles 4

    Made for the Art Bye Critique collective's online show, The Screen and Beyond, showing artists' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.mzacharias.com/art-byte-critique-presents-the-screen-and-beyond/
    This tiny, coloured pencil, oil pastel, and wax rayon sketch is from one of two series in this online show and from a larger project in which I was... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  14. Bye Bye 2020 group show at the Launch Pad Gallery

    2 December 2020
    Bye Bye 2020 group show at the Launch Pad Gallery

    One of my dust paintings will be in the Bye Bye 2020 group show at the Launch Pad gallery in Yokohama. If you have not been to this alternative gallery, I recommend checking it out.

    *****If you remember the continent of Australia was literally on fire in January. There was... continue reading (2, 1 image)

  15. Rings at the Launch Pad Gallery

    23 July 2021
    Rings at the Launch Pad Gallery

    MICHELLE ZACHARIAS

    「リング」

    07.16 - 07.26 2021

    13:00 - 19:00
    金 〜 月

    This series of small drawings by Michelle Zacharias began during a dark period in the artist’s life, followed by a longer period of darkness worldwide. After two heart surgeries, Zacharias did not have the energy to do... continue reading (1, 1 image)

  16. Flower Ring/Circle

    23 July 2021
    Flower Ring/Circle

    This is one of the 230+ drawings currently on display at the Launch Pad gallery. This particular one is more recent so it doesn’t reference any dust-filled sunsets or viruses. It is an abstracted wisteria. Each one of the drawings are completely different from the other. Some are drawn with... continue reading (0, 1 image)

  17. IN/TANGIBLE

    5 August 2022
    IN/TANGIBLE

    One of two shows/events that I am participating in this month. IN/TANGIBLE is a group show featuring four artists from the Art Byte Critique collective based in Tokyo.

    IN/TANGIBLE at the Art for Thought gallery (Friday, July 29—Wednesday, August 10, 2022) brings together four artists who are deeply influenced by... continue reading (1, 1 image)

  18. TagBoat’s Independent Tokyo 2022 Art Fair

    5 August 2022
    TagBoat’s Independent Tokyo 2022 Art Fair

    This is one of two events/shows that I am involved with this month. It is only only for two days: August 6 and 7. The venue is Tokyo Port City Takeshiba, 3F near Hamamatsu station. I am sharing booth no. 97 with Deanna Gabiga aka Studio Deanna. We both have... continue reading (0, 1 image)