- Where it is here -
- it does not matter -
- how I have got here -
- can I forget

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)
(Photo credit - Christian Capurro)

Solo Exhibition / 19 March - 16 April, 2016
Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

ここがどこなのか - Where it is here - どうでもいいことさ - it does not matter -
どうやって来たのか - how I have got here - 忘れられるかな - can I forget

2016 / solo-exhibition / exhibition overview

ここがどこなのか - Where it is here - どうでもいいことさ - it does not matter -
どうやって来たのか - how I have got here - 忘れられるかな - can I forget

2016 / solo-exhibition / exhibition overview

ここがどこなのか - Where it is here - どうでもいいことさ - it does not matter -
どうやって来たのか - how I have got here - 忘れられるかな - can I forget

2016 / solo-exhibition / exhibition overview

ここがどこなのか - Where it is here - どうでもいいことさ - it does not matter -
どうやって来たのか - how I have got here - 忘れられるかな - can I forget

2016 / solo-exhibition / exhibition overview

ここがどこなのか - Where it is here - どうでもいいことさ - it does not matter -
どうやって来たのか - how I have got here - 忘れられるかな - can I forget

2016 / solo-exhibition / exhibition overview

I rain (Watakushi ame)
2015 / work on paper / water color, glassine, MG Litho / 47 x 48 cm

I rain (Watakushi ame)
2015 / work on paper / water color, glassine, MG Litho / 47 x 88 cm/

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

- Where it is here - - it does not matter -
- how I have got here - - can I forget

(Sutton Projects version)
2016 / 20 works on paper(fabric) and 2 video works* /332 x 645 cm, (3:40) & (3:55)
/ *Gesture of Shadows (2015-16) & Topology between the three (2014)

(drift at the mercy of the waves)
2015 / installation / oil pastel, tracing paper, acrylic cube / dimension variable

(drift at the mercy of the waves)
2015 / installation / oil pastel, tracing paper, acrylic cube / dimension variable

(drift at the mercy of the waves)
2015 / installation / oil pastel, tracing paper, acrylic cube / dimension variable

(drift at the mercy of the waves)
2015 / installation / oil pastel, tracing paper, acrylic cube / dimension variable

The Untranslatable, a Poetic Place -

Like a little child chasing a butterfly, here and there, I try to capture a shifting atmosphere with my eyes and hands. Their shapes sometimes look like my mother’s and my grandmother’s, who have shown me how to live one’s life lovingly. But I am still learning to do so, as it is a difficult task.



In his essay, The Translator’s Task, the philosopher, Walter Benjamin redefined ‘translation’ from what makes “itself remember the meaning of the original” to what “must lovingly, and in detail, fashion in its own language a counterpart to the original’s mode of intention”.



I imagine that it will be the same risk and chance for a poet to translate love, as for an artist, but it would be the ultimate task.



My exhibition title is the first line of a 70’s Japanese song, 恋は桃色 (Love is Pink), written by Hosono Haruomi. When one is in love, the world appears so different that one forgets everything and accepts everything. Such poetic experience/reflection is perhaps ‘untranslatable’, but that is what my artwork is longing for.



March, 2016

Utako Shindo

An experimental film on the exhibition



The Untranslatable, A Poetic Place from utakoshindo on Vimeo.
Title: The Untranslatable, A Poetic Place
Year: 2016
Duration: 9min. 46sec.
Filmed by Dimple Rajyaguru & Ben Andrews
Edited and Directed by Utako Shindo