Yasuko Toyoshima

Yasuko Toyoshima had an exhibition which ran until the end of December 1998. It was the first time that this young Japanese artist had shown in Europe and she developed a specific video installation for Grange House. An interview with the artist is included in the exhibition catalogue

A straw Life Buoy

Safety Pin

Pencil

"In my art I have chosen to incorporate casual daily necessities and the systems of society that we, for the most part, unconscioulsy take part in to represent the collective and, in the collective, oneself. Through a tautological exploration, I hope to bring forward underlying truths and answers that satisfy the human need to categorise and systemise"

Yasuko Toyoshima 1997

More specifically Yasuko Toyoshima talks about two works:

Pencil "The most simplified tool for expression for me is a pencil. By using a pencil to write or draw, the lead is transferred from the object of the pencil and transformed into a word or picture. Its existence is thus extended. The same could be said of the shavings of a pencil: the pencil has not reduced itself so much as it has transformed itself and grown outward. In this piece I changed the shape of a pencil, but did not decrease its size, by carving a portion of its centre so as to expose the lead inside. I exposed the boundary between the interior and exterior; the lead, the essence and means of transformation for the pencil, was exposed. The lead is the will of the pencil to communicate so as to grow outwards. This is representative of our will for communication and self-identification"

Before Expression "A ruler has its meaning because the scale on a ruler has become standardised. By heating a ruler in an oven, the graduations on the ruler and the plastic material deteriate, each in their own individual way. Due to the ruler's predetermined functions my actions (manipulations of shape) can also be predetermined. It could be said that the tool presupposes my thoughts"