Shima Haruka has been creating works based on the theme of the relationship between people and iconography, employing archive photographs of tools from various periods and cultures as motifs. Her latest work includes the Transformation series (2022-), in which four iconographic images are superimposed in a single painting, and the ongoing Collection series (2019-), in which milk cartons from her daily life are used as the support for paintings that also serve as records. In the Touch series, she paints subjects from archive images with a single brush and a single fluorescent color in an attempt to deepen understanding, through the physical act of “touch” (touching, interacting), of objects that cannot physically be experienced. In addition, the strong fluorescent colors also produce the ambivalent visual effect of “wanting to see but not being able to,” and are used not only in two-dimensional works but also in three-dimensional forms. While using historical and cultural materials as a starting point, Shima attempts to understand the objects through impressions that emerge from the colors, shapes, and images, as well as through the imagination of the individual, rather than reading their use and context as a record that supports historical facts.

The Triangle
The Triangle is a space newly created for the reopening of the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. It aims to nurture emerging artists, especially those associated with Kyoto, and to provide opportunities for museum visitors to experience contemporary art. In order to connect the artist, museum, and viewer in a triangle and deepen those connections, the space hosts an eponymous series of special exhibitions and presents new artistic expressions from Kyoto.