Past Art Gallery Exhibitions
“Yūgen: Dreams in Clay”
by Keita Tsutsumi
February 23 through April 30, 2024
Artist’s Bio:
Keita has been working in clay since 2007 and started dancing as a repertory member of Dancesequences Inc. in 2018.
Since then, they have been enthralled with the possibilities and opportunities to begin combining these two passions in any and all ways.
Keita currently teaches ceramics at the Tucson Clay Co op and dance and movement in various senior communities.
About “Yūgen: Dreams in Clay” Exhibit:
These works are a check-in point. How are you doing? How are we doing?
These pieces, constructed within the last month, were created in collaboration with these questions, though, with no expectations of honest answers.
At some point, to feed my want of answers, those questions began to ask not “how” but “what”. “What are we doing?”
And I found that amid the vast beautiful universe, and even this vast planet, we are simply here. We are being hugged here between the landscapes below and beside us and the atmosphere above and against us. We are blooming with scapes inside us and the air that holds us. Forever between a land and a sky.
The works you see are simple offerings to remind us of our answers; of landscapes ventured and mysterious and of skies so sublime.
About Yūgen:
An awareness of the Universe that triggers
emotional responses too deep and powerful for words
“Yūgen is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics. The exact translation of the word depends on the context. Yūgen is not an allusion to another world. It is about this world, this experience…
“To watch the sun sink behind a flower clad hill. To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return. To stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands. To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds…” –Zeami Motokiyo
“Land of the Rising Sun - Hiizurukuni”
by Peter Fuhrman
November 9, 2023 through April 30, 2024
Artist's Bio:
Peter Fuhrman grew up in a log home in the woods. Being surrounded by nature, and the towering Rockies of Montana, was a grounding experience. Peter's appreciation for nature's design captured his attention at an early age.
It was nature that first inspired him to pick up a camera. Viewing his surroundings through a lens offered a new perspective, one that allowed for even greater intimacy. This intimacy led to an interest in exploring other subjects to photograph; eventually leading to a career as a filmmaker where Peter focuses most of his time today.
Peter is a published photographer and award winning cinematographer. He and his wife, Kara, live in Tucson, AZ.
About “Land of the Rising Sun” Exhibit:
In 2015 Peter and Kara, spent ten days traveling through Japan's urban and rural countryside.
Attempting to capture what was a cultural delight in a very intimate and immersive way, this exhibit showcases a small sampling of Peter's photographic memories of their treasured experiences in Japan.
The images were selected for the natural lighting, texture and quiet calm that they exude.
“NO MUD, NO LOTUS”
by Curt Brill
March 2 - May 6, 2023
The most recent work has Curt return to some of his early experience in working with clay. After 50 years, he keeps rediscovering his love for the material.
Hokkaido
Silent Snow
by Eilzabeth Sanjuan
October 1, 2022 - January 29, 2023
Rugged and so picturesque, Hokkaido stimulates all the senses with its natural environment. Elizabeth says of Silent Snow:
“Winter shows us the resilience of trees, the hardy determination of wildlife, and the stoic resolve of its people. Through one of the harshest winter seasons on our planet, the island retains a calm demeanor…My mind returns often to the quiet, serene, majestic stillness of this magical land.”
The peace, and tranquility, of Hokkaido are absolutely tangible through her photos and a must see for all our visitors.
About Elizabeth: Elizabeth Sanjuan is a visual artist that started photographing over thirty years ago and has photographed in over 100 countries. Her passion is to discover the vast mosaic of people, lands and cultures that the world offers; and to record the incredible panorama of color, pattern and energy that bombards the receptive eye. Photography gives her the opportunity to observe, but she believes that the lens intensifies her ability to truly understand the world we live in. She ranges worldwide, and draws on imagery that includes not only people, but the natural and man-made surroundings that define and shape our cultures and our communities. For Elizabeth, the camera provides objective proof of the remarkable commonality of humankind; and reinforces the urgent need to protect the cultural and environmental heritage that define us all. https://www.elizabethsanjuan.com/
Shinto Inspired Art
by Alexandra Dedovitch
October 1 - December 31, 2022
XANDRA is a suminagashi artist and miniaturist. Her deep reverence for nature inspired her to create the exhibition “Shinto Inspired Art” to honor the indigenous religion of Japan and its nature-based origins.
Her work reflects the fundamentals accompanying Shinto, including breath as the essence of life, the serenity of nature, and the ritualistic aspects of the religion.
“Shinto Inspired Art” is a meticulously crafted orchestration of various aspects of the Japanese nature-based religion to give the viewer a meaningful understanding of this uniquely diverse spiritual practice.
On display, parabolic mirrors, or mirascopes, projecting 3D holographic images of yorishiro, object that attract the gods (kami); miniature dioramas that represent hokoro, or mini shrines; kami masks; and suminagashi, a traditional Japanese art form that uses ink and water to create designs onto paper and textiles.
“Photograms”
An Exhibit by Kate Breakey
January 27 - May 29, 2022
Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson presents an exhibition by acclaimed artist, Kate Breakey.
Photograms, or 'photogenic drawings’, are the earliest form of photography, a process invented by Henry Fox Talbot. The images are made without a camera; subjects are simply placed on light sensitive paper and exposed to light resulting in a negative shadow with variation in tone according to the transparency of the object. Specimens used in this process include beautiful natural living organisms such as plants, insects, and animals. Their ghostly imprint, a permanent record of their brief existence on this earth. These are part of Breakey’s larger series ‘Las Sombras/The Shadows’ spanning 10 years, in which time she recorded hundreds of plants and creatures as part of her ongoing fascination with the natural world.
Also in this exhibition are ‘Orotones’ - photographs printed on the back of glass and gilded with hand-applied gold-leaf. Breakey was inspired by this early 20th century photographic process popularized by among others, American photographer, Edward Curtis. However a similar process, ‘Maki-e’ (gold lacquer) Photography had been invented earlier in the late 19th century by Hanbeh Mizuno in Japan.
Artwork courtesy of the artist and Etherton Gallery.
Kimono Monogatari - “Kimono Tales”
October 15, 2021 through January 23, 2022
A selection of valuable vintage and modern kimono from Yume’s collections will be on display at the Gardens from October 15th, 2021 through January 23rd, 2022 (extended).
Kimono, the iconic traditional Japanese robe, so easily definable by its simple straight seamed “T” shape, shows remarkable complexity in its craftsmanship, extreme versatility in its use, and dynamic ways of adapting to the evolution of taste and society.
Ever since its origins, the kimono (着物, literally translated in English as ‘thing to wear’) has been a blank canvas for the decorator to create a wearable piece of art.
The Kimono Monogatari – “Kimono Tales” exhibit will showcase stories weaved, embroidered, and dyed over a variety of vivid textiles, revealing the exceptional skills and aesthetic values of artists in the last century.
Spirit of the Land – Paintings by Emily King
February 7 – May 1, 2020
The exhibition explores the Japanese concept of tamashii — the way that Japanese culture is moved by the spirit of a place, a sight, or a being. All paintings are for sale.
Sakura – Photography by Mark Taylor
February 9 – May 4, 2019
The show contrasts the hard edge of Japan’s cityscapes with the delicate cherry blossom (“sakura”) that heralds spring. All photographs in the show are for sale.
Teabowls – by Curt Brill
October 19, 2018 @ 5 pm - 8 pm
Curt Brill’s bronzes of the human figure and his Japanese-inspired vases and tea-bowl forms will be on exhibit (and for sale) at Yume. Seen widely in solo and group shows in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, his pieces are held by both museums and private collectors.
Enlightened Heart – by Ping Wei
October 15, 2017 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Phoenix ceramicist and Ikebana master Ping Wei launches his exhibition of fire-engraved wood sculptures.
Between Folds: Origami Classical and Modern – by M.Craig
From October 1 to December 31, 2017
A pageant of ingenious folded paper forms by Tucson origami artist M. Craig.
Art of Brush Calligraphy – by Yoshi Nakano
Saturday, February 25, 2017 @ 1:00 pm
Observe and explore abstracting brush calligraphy expression through the dynamic interplay of black shadow into emptiness. The ancient art of brush calligraphy is a visual form of music that harmonizes with the breath, ink, paper, water and tranquil timeless space. We will experience echo of Qi with the deep engagement and absorption of the natural elements and beyond.
Japan by Night – Photography by Louis Rivera
February 18 – March 30, 2017
Gold Leaf Photographs – by Kate Breakey
Sept. 11 – Nov. 20, 2015
A long-neglected process that utilizes gold to render highlights with startlingly more depth and luminosity than ordinary photographs appears in a modern incarnation in the exhibit Gold Leaf Photographs by Kate Breakey. The images in her current show are modern versions of Orotones.