Year: 2023
Medium: neon light
Dimensions: 45 x 20 x 20 cm (17 3/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Acquired from Lurf Museum, 2023
A spatial drawing with neon tubes emitting vibrant red light. Kawauchi considers line an important element in her two-dimensional works on canvas and paper. In her words, line depictions express the “primitive” in the act of drawing. Line drawings can be seen in many ancient wall paintings, and it is said that the origin of painting was to imitate the outline of a loved one’s silhouette. Therefore, lines are likely to have a fundamental role in artistic expression. Kawauchi considers painting as something that is associated with spatiality. Since painting is about creating on a blank sheet of paper or blank space and spatiality arises by placing a line on it, this work as a three-dimensional work should also be called a line depiction rather than a sculpture in its essence. Red holds a special significance for Kawauchi and is used in most of her works. The neon series which this work is a continuation of, is derived from the original use of red lines in her paintings. In oil painting, lines cannot exist without the support of a canvas, but neon lines depiction frees it from that dependency. The electrons flowing in the gas inside the neon tube collide with the neon atoms, resulting in red emission. This work is titled “grow” which has a fluid nuance of “grow” or “extend”. It may be an analogy that overlaps the particles circulating in the neon tube like primitive life and the “primitive” that appears in the lines of Kawauchi’s work.
