Combining hand-carved Japanese cypress with crystal-clear acrylic resin, Ayako Kita sculpts tender, emotive figures. For her current exhibition, The End of the Day Begins at FUMA Contemporary Tokyo, she focuses on the transitional moment of returning home, in which seemingly mundane tasks like switching on a light or opening a curtain are imbued with consequence, frozen in time.
Kita’s work emphasizes an often introspective world, where a young woman or girl’s consciousness, emotions, and anxieties manifest in uncanny scenarios. The titles usually offer important clues, too. In “me & me,” for example, an extra pair of legs is literally tethered to the character’s own limbs, as if another half-formed parallel version of her person is always present. And change is in the air in “Premonition,” where a slightly apprehensive expression is accompanied by a gust of wind.
In her most recent work, the figures exhibit expressions of curiosity, thoughtfulness, and faint concern, gazing directly at the viewer, as if seeing us unexpectedly across a room or out a window. “When I began to think about creating a world in which all the pieces would connect as one continuous story, this series naturally came to mind,” Kita says in a statement.
The End of the Day Begins includes works the artist has made throughout the past five years. Her newest pieces combine figures with furnishings and architectural elements, a theme she first explored when she was a student. “Rather than a return to my origins, this production became a time to reaffirm that these scenes still exist vividly within me,” she says.
The End of the Day Begins continues through November 29 in Tokyo. Follow Kita on Instagram for updates. You might also enjoy the multifaceted woodcarvings of Yoshitoshi Kenamaki.
