Hiraki Sawa

Hiraki Sawa

I touched on Hiraki Sawa's video art in my nonsensically long APT6 post, and I'm so excited that he's exhibiting as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney that I thought I'd delve a little further into his exquisite work.

 Dwelling, 2002

via artnet

Elsewhere, 2003

via the artist's website

Now, my patience can wear a little thin with video art, as it probably can for most people. Rarely will the subject matter engage an entire audience, and it can be a very dividing and under-appreciated medium. Sawa's work is entirely not this. It is surreal, evocative and mesmerising...I can't remember another time when I've sat willingly and completely entranced in front of a gallery screening.

via secretumeuhimi

Going Places Sitting Down, 2004

Migration, 2003

 via the artist's website

Having often used his own apartment as the backdrop for these playful scenes, Sawa manages to generate the most dreamlike of images in seemingly mundane environments. A snippet from Anna Zagala's excellent article describes his artmaking perfectly:

Sawa's work takes great pleasure in the surreal possibilities generated by taking rescaled objects, often juxtaposing several fantastical elements in a single frame, and placing them in ordinary domestic environments. As such these visions of the animal kingdom and far-flung places recall the experience of childhood with its singular passions and unfettered imagination. 

 via La Plume Culturelle

Hiraki Sawa's work will be exhibited at Artspace in Wooloomooloo throughout the Biennale. If you're in Sydney I really urge you to check it out; me posting stills doesn't quite do a video artist justice. And good luck with the rest of the Biennale program... that is a hell of a lot of art to get through.

E.