Fraser Valley Biennale: Miki Dare
My art will be in the 2015 Fraser Valley Biennale. It’s a series of exhibitions that are coordinated through arts councils in the Fraser Valley region. The show is happening from now until September and you can enjoy a variety of innovative art in galleries ranging from Mission to Abbotsford.
Lovers & Fighters
My painting Exotic Flavour Existence will be at the Kariton Art Gallery from July 25th to August 18th. The theme of this exhibit is titled Lovers and Fighters. The excerpt for the genesis of this particular show reads as follows:
“As subjective expressions, works of art are often personal in nature. But they can also embody collective, or even universal, themes related to who we are and how we respond to our circumstances. This exhibition explores multiple aspects of artistic, personal and social identities through a range of lenses. The Fraser Valley artists presented in this exhibition suggest that there is an intimate distance between being a lover and a fighter.”
Exotic Flavour Existence
The art I have in this exhibition is part of a collection I’ve titled Geisha Girl Stereotype Survivor. The piece of cultural garbage I have included in this painting is an instant noodle lid that says, “Noodle Time” and “Instant Ramen Noodles.” I’m interested in the intersecting reality of fast-food garbage and how it coordinates so well with instant stereotypes. Eating fast food is unhealthy for us, yet it is part of the fabric of our society – just as stereotypes based on race, gender and class are. I say I am Japanese and images of geisha girls, sushi, and instant noodles swirl to the surface of our minds. Yet, I am yonsei. I am the fourth generation to live in Canada. My great-grandparents came here.
Processed Reality
Processed food and processed stereotypical images are constantly consumed in our culture. Consumed and thrown away – only to be consumed and thrown away the next day. What does that mean to the individual soul swimming through all this? So how do I find my place in this sea of mental and media garbage? Why I bite back with a smile. I paint, rip, splatter, glue and burn in layers of self expression.
