Itsuha Shimada “Nighthawk— From Kenji Miyazawa’s The Nighthawk Star”

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[Image: Itsuha Shimada “Searching for You in the Fog (Part II)” (2013) Japanese paper, pastel, charcoal, mineral pigment, aluminum foil 730×1030 mm]

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Working mainly with Japanese paper, Itsuha Shimada composes single-frame works from an array of materials including pastels, mineral pigment paints, charcoal, pen, and aluminum foil. Straight lines, arcs, squares, and other shapes appear all over Shimada’s paintings and drawings in arrangements that seem geometrically aligned. Focusing on new works of all sizes, this exhibition presents a series inspired by author Kenji Miyazawa’s “The Nighthawk Star”. In the story, the nighthawk is sweet but despised by other birds for his ugliness, and hawks threaten to kill him he it does not change his misleading name. Suffering numerous contradictions and irrationalities, the nighthawk ultimately becomes his own star. Widely interpreted, the story can be considered an allegory for the problems of contemporary Japanese society, including bullying and underemployment, and many youth connect with the nighthawk’s feelings of inner turmoil, incompatibility with society, and repressed emotion. Shimada’s works unconsciously pick up on these themes.