Kazumi Seki – imbued

FOBA 2021 Challenge Book

Technique and materials used:

Imbued consists of three parts: a crumpled paper, a piece of paper, and a container, and they are a metaphor of something I would let go of, my wish and myself. The crumpled paper has the word “perfectionism” with hand lettering. I used copy paper and Ivory Black gouache to represent “perfectionism.” In contrast, I used handmade paper and watercolor for a piece of paper. The paper is rough and uneven, and the color I made was far from “black.” This piece of paper represents the real result of my effort. I soaked the paper for the container into watercolored with yellow/red/blue watercolor. Each color has a different degree of penetration and creates a natural texture on the paper. The container represents a person like me who learned various values and imbued social construction.

About the work:

What came to mind when I knew the theme is that each person’s perspective is strongly influenced by values that one has. Some values learned through child discipline and/or one’s experience often help people but sometimes they make life difficult. For me, perfectionism often troubles me and limits me. I would like to let perfectionism go like trash, but perfectionism has become my blood and flesh and it’s difficult to change. Imbued is the artwork that expresses my psychological situation: that is where I live.

kazumiseki.com