Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Atsuko Goto Draws Haunting Visions of Women in “Dreaming Monster”

Dreams are considered important, real, and public in some cultures, but absurd, irrational and personal in others. Japan has its own history of dreaming, and the importance of dreams has evolved through Japanese supernatural beliefs and art for centuries. "Dreams are like strange stories," says Tokyo based artist Atsuko Goto, who builds on her own visions of dreams in her other-worldly mixed media drawings. "I draw what comes up from our unconscious, like hidden feelings reflected in our dreams."

Dreams are considered important, real, and public in some cultures, but absurd, irrational and personal in others. Japan has its own history of dreaming, and the importance of dreams has evolved through Japanese supernatural beliefs and art for centuries. “Dreams are like strange stories,” says Tokyo based artist Atsuko Goto, who builds on her own visions of dreams in her other-worldly mixed media drawings. “I draw what comes up from our unconscious, like hidden feelings reflected in our dreams.”

Previously featured on our blog here, Goto’s “dream-drawings” took particular prominence in her work after the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, a time when dreaming offered both an escape from and reconciliation with a harsh reality. Her ongoing “Dreaming Monster” series depicts ethereal women, often described as “undead” or “zombie”-like in appearance, which can be attributed to her palette of grays and blues made from semi-precious Lapis-lazuli and gum arabic.

In part based on Izanami-no-Mikoto, or the goddess of creation and death, Goto’s ghostly incarnations of women are typically nestled among symbols of the living: colorful clusters of butterflies and delicate flower blooms decorate their long, flowing strands of hair as they navigate Goto’s inner world. She will debut new additions to her “Dreaming Monster” series in her upcoming solo show of the same name, opening on March 30th at the Mitsukoshi-Nihonbashi Art salon in Tokyo.

“Since my studies in France (2007-2009), and also after experiencing the earthquake of March 2011 in Japan, I strongly felt, and was made aware of how the Japanese viewed selflessness, resignation and obedience as virtues,” the artist shares. “I feel that Japanese live in the middle of a wide emptiness, locked up inside their imaginary cocoon, calm and sincere, but quietly desperate. As a Japanese myself, I draw imaginary landscapes seen from the inside of this world.”

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
It’s easy to get lost in the arresting vision of Mike Worrall, who was last mentioned on Hi-Fructose in this 2014 piece. But maybe lost is the wrong word, as there is a definitive space viewers inhabit as they look upon works like "The Lost Narrative," above, which takes us to the “World’s End.” The paintings’ subjects often gaze back at the viewer, further shackling passers-by into lingering.
Mark Gleason’s new stirring, dreamlike oil paintings explore nocturnal and psychological themes. In a new show at La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, titled "Sleepless," the painter offers a new series of works that explore both broad and personal themes for the artist. The artist was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Luis Garcia, who uses the moniker OOGLIOO, is a San Diego-based artist who crafts psychedelic and surreal worlds with a mix of acrylics and colored pencils. As the viewer’s eyes descend down the page, surprises await as the entire essence of otherworldly beings come into focus.
Matt Hansel’s painstakingly crafted oil and flashe paintings span periods of art history, remixing and interpreting in collage-like pieces. The blending of Renaissance and Lowbrow iconography is pushed further into surrealism with Hansel’s abstractions, which also defy the painter’s chosen tools, and his use of exposed linen. The artist, an MFA graduate of Yale, has been shown across the U.S. and in Tokyo, London, and beyond.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List