Mirror Drawing Mirror Drawing

Known for producing black and white images centering on physical and tactile drawings in pencil, SEKINE Naoko (1977-) has in recent years demonstrated new developments in drawing through actively attempting to incorporate concrete imagery, vivid colors, and dynamic brushstrokes into her work. At the same time, she continues to express a consistent interest in the experience of painting through considerations towards the placement of works in space, as well as their composition. Mirror Drawing is a work that was realized as a result of such pursuit. When standing in front of the drawing, viewers observe their shadows, colors, and even the entire space surrounding them as being reflected within, making them seemingly integrate with the image. The work is created through a process of applying numerous coats of gesso to the panels, which are then polished and developed through layering pencil upon gouache. At once presenting a mirror-like smoothness and subtle shadows depicted by means of meticulously drawn lines, it is indeed hard to believe that the work was realized through methods of drawing. Of the three panels that make up the image, the texture of the central panel is different to those on either side, enabling the work to become a place where multiple boundaries shift back and forth along its surface each time someone passes by in front of it. Our so-called act of “confronting the drawing, and interpreting its contents,” is here opened up to an entirely different experience. This work was produced based on Sekine’s visit to the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. Drawn as a response of sorts to spaces in which drawings appear to breathe and surround the viewer, the quality of the image and surface that is indeed only obtainable through drawing with a pencil can be considered as characteristic of an artist who keeps engaging in issues of technique and space.