Year: 2022
Medium: oil on wallpaper
Dimensions: 34.2 x 17.5 cm (13 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Tomio Koyama Gallery, 2022
The work is drawn on roughly cut wallpaper. The support not being canvas lends itself to a dense depiction that makes the viewer doubt if it’s a drawing. For Kudo, drawing signifies something more improvisational than its original meaning as linework; it points to the general act of creating work that is simpler than a tableau. In a past interview, Kudo describes how her practice is an extension of her childhood days when she used to draw pictures on the streets and the back of flyers, and how things have not changed ever since. In this work, a girl stands still while holding a brass instrument shaped like a trombone. As the title “mysterious instrument” suggests, this is likely her first time holding it, therefore she holds it so awkwardly. Her pink clothes and the yellow instrument stand out against the blue and green background. Although this instrument does not seem to make any sound, one can almost hear the comforting sound of the paintbrush running smoothly on the wallpaper from the relaxed appearance of the thinned oil paint.
