Dialogue - Smile and Arisa Kawai -

On top of a mountain in Kimino Town, Wakayama Prefecture.

Since 2017, the married couple, Ekata and Arisa, have been gradually clearing land and are living on a mountain they have named "Irodoriyama" as their permanent home.

We asked the couple about the changes they have noticed since starting to live on the mountain.

Putting down roots in the land

When he was previously living in Kyoto City, Shoda spent little time at home and traveled all over the country drawing caricatures.

"When I was living in Kyoto, I never thought of it as me living here for the rest of my life. But when I found this place and made up my mind that I wanted to live here until I die, I finally felt like I was starting to put down roots in my life."

He tills the fields, grows vegetables and herbs, and renovates his studio himself, and says he wants to spend as much time as possible living in the mountains.

He spends his days on top of a mountain surrounded by nature, working on his paintings until the sun goes down.

"The time I spend drawing is enjoyable in itself," says Shoda, and drawing is at the heart of his life.

After I started living on Irodoriyama, a turning point in my life occurred.

It means drawing pictures that are not caricatures.

"Since deciding to live on the mountain I named Irodoriyama, I have been there many times and have experienced not only the beauty of the mountain that I had never known before, but also the fear of nature. At night, there are no street lights, so there are days when I hear the cries of animals and insects I have never heard coming from the bushes around my house and feel the unknown fear of the night. At the same time, the beauty of the small fireflies sparkling in the grass and the starry sky make me feel like I am in space.

The sky changes shape from moment to moment, the color of the rain, the smell of the earth, the sounds of the trees, the wind, and even things invisible to the eye - we exist among the activities of various living things, and it feels like we are allowed to live on this land. What I touched, saw, heard, and felt on this mountain, combined with Arisa and my friend's suggestion that I "try drawing pictures other than portraits," and so I started drawing."

Presence intact

"Since I started living on Irodoriyama, nothing has changed drastically mentally, but the biggest change within me was that I began to express myself in music, which was something I never expected," says Arisa.

"Living here, there are fewer man-made objects and the numbers of insects and plants are different, so I feel the power of nature more directly. Until now, I've been using my hands to interact with the materials and create shapes, but because the energy of the land is so strong, I've been able to use my body to touch them and make sounds out of what I feel, even though I'm not physically touching anything. I think this is a big influence from this land."

An object made from catnip that grew on Irodori Mountain. Rather than starting from the information that "grasses are easy to work with because they are flexible," the artist first touched and moved the catnip with his hands and shaped it.

Arisa will be holding a "Singing Concert" from 6:30pm on Sunday, September 26th. The concert will feature the sound of the guitar and a reading of "words that cannot be uttered" that Arisa has written down until now, in a space with a mirror.

A place where souls resonate

The exhibition "Shotatsu Kawai Arisa Couple Exhibition "Tamakiharu"" will be held at Utsushiki from Saturday, September 18th.

This will be their first exhibition together as a married couple in four and a half years. What are their thoughts as they approach this exhibition?

"We have been married for 14 years. We have influenced each other and have become who we are today. I think we have nurtured each other together. Half of us is Shoda and half is Arisa. And that is how we met Irodoriyama, and our work was born.

Living on Irodoriyama, the activities of various living things are "born, living, connecting, and dying." They simply exist in this cycle. We want to expose the cycles and power of nature that reside in this land, and what we as a couple can do now, as they are in the reflecting space, and create an exhibition that exchanges the feeling of life welling up inside."

Following this dialogue, the exhibition "Tamakiharu" by Shoda and Kawai Arisa will begin on Saturday, September 18th as part of Utsushiki's 6th anniversary project. What kind of scenery will unfold at Utsushiki? What kind of world will it be the entrance to? I can't help but look forward to it. As part of the anniversary project, we are also planning a portrait session with Shoda, a singing session with Arisa, and a dinner party with " millet ", which has a deep connection with Shoda and Arisa, in the cafeteria. There are only a few seats left for some sessions, so if you are interested, please contact Utsushiki as soon as possible.

[Interview article -Shota-]

Dialogue - Laughter -

Shoda is an artist who captures a wide range of emotions and portrays the natural charm of each person. We asked him about the thoughts he puts into the portraits he draws.

[Interview -Arisa Kawai-]

Dialogue - Arisa Kawai -

Arisa started making accessories using plants around the time she quit her job as a company employee.

Interviewer and writer: Yoshiaki Ono