ERA GALLERY info@eragallery.it @_eragallery Tel.+39 02 3652 2686 Via Palermo, 1-5, 20121 Milan www.eragallery.it Milano, Italy RIKAKO KAWAUCHI solo show The voice of the soul Press release “When I draw/paint, colours, shapes, and images burst like a storm and coa- gulate on canvas in a single moment. The touch of paint and the lines emerge with a certain speed. It appears vividly without the filter of my brain’s images and thoughts so it may be described as the shouts and whispers of the body” - Courtesy of the Artist When tasked with describing the sensation of producing a work Rikako Kawau- chi compares it to “a balloon inflating,” Wherein as her “body and thoughts come up and press against this swollen, balloon-like volume” and she begins “to sense my physicality for the first time,” From this we can gain some sense of the priorities of her work, though seemingly otherworldly in its aesthetic results, it finds its genesis in a very carnal consideration of embodiment. Materials and treatments for her vary; often she takes a canvas and coats it lusciously in layers of oil paint, otherwise often creating gently glowing twists of neon, even on occasion the solemn simplicity of black lines on white paper in her drawings. The constant which remains through this material variety is the line, be it etched in paint, drawn in pencil, or bent in wire or neon tubing. Curious and mysterious subjects are generated by the interaction of these li- nes; beasts both real and imagined, heads with great domed foreheads, fruits, bodily organs, stars and silhouettes. They dance and embrace, their outlines sinking into a sea of vivid blues, pinks, greens and violets. Fantastic as the scene may be, our instinct calls out to trace our finger along the lines, a decidedly mundane and bodily act which mirrors that of Kawauchi in carving them into the paint. Through this instinct we embrace her as her creatures embrace each other. Kawauchi locates her own body in this tension between airy and splendid fantasy and the concreteness of corporeal reality, and in externalising this process into paintings, drawings and sculptures she helps us to locate our own bodies when we are confronted by her work. Palm fruit, 2022 Oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm 63.77 x 51.29 in USD 10.000 + VAT if applicable Grape, pineapple, mango, 2023 Oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm 51.2 x 38 in USD 7.500 + VAT if applicable Bloom, 2023 Oil on canvas 116 x 91 cm 46 x 35.8 in USD 7.000 + VAT if applicable River bank, 2022 Oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm 38 x 51.2 in USD 7.500 + VAT if applicable Mermaid, 2023 Oil on canvas 91 x 116 cm 36 x 46 in USD 7.000 + VAT if applicable Collections of snake, 2023 Oil on canvas 91 x 116 cm 35.8 x 45.9 in USD 7.000 + VAT if applicable Embrance, 2023 Oil on canvas 91 x 116 cm 36 x 46 in USD 7.000 + VAT if applicable Dancing, 2022 Oil on canvas 91 x 73 cm 36 x 28.6 in USD 5.500 + VAT if applicable Connecting, 2022 Oil on canvas 91 x 73 cm 36 x 28.6 in USD 5.500 + VAT if applicable