Drawing with a Drone by Motoko Kikkawa showcases a unique combination of traditional drawing techniques and contemporary technology.
Japanese artist based in Ōtepote Dunedin, NZ, Motoko Kikkawa drawing practice expands through diverse materials and approaches. Using paint brushes, pencils, ballpoint pens, paper cutting, and ceramics, the artist creates abstract forms and distinctive markings.
Born in Tokyo 1968, the artist has witnessed Japan’s rapid technological evolution through the advent of fax machines, personal computers, the rise of the internet and mobile phones. Nowadays, concerns about AI advancement and increased control systems are becoming prevalent, with fears of job loss. Motoko encourages embracing imperfectness and considers that new creations incorporating unpredictable elements can inspire excitement and hope for the future.
Opening event: Friday 6 Sep, 5pm
Artist bio by Anna Knight, art critic and translator
Motoko Kikkawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1968 and after obtaining a degree in Philosophy at Nihon University, moved to Dunedin over twenty years ago. Graduating from the Dunedin School of Art in 2010, she has been a vibrant part of the local and national art scene from the outset, as her myriad solo or collective shows, residencies and performances up and down the country attest, in both public and private spaces.
A prolific visual artist primarily creating highly detailed works on paper, Kikkawa is also unafraid to test boundaries, genres and new materials (including video, kirigami from old wallpaper, kelp, clay and mushroom spore tests). She is a talented violinist who regularly plays with various formations and her music-making reflects her approach to art: she listens intently, picks up moods and keys, finding harmonies and atonal notes that suggest new pathways to explore.
Some of her most recent shows and residencies include: suite 2023 (Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2023); Engine In Nature (Dunedin Fringe Festival, 2021); Reflections of Mind (Audiofoundation, Auckland, 2020); Whakarongo Whakaraupō (Stoddart Cottage, Diamond Harbour, 2023); After Us, Everything (RM Gallery, Auckland, 2022); Presentation Layer: NFT Forms, Platforms and Transference and Material Sense (Ilam Campus Gallery, Christchurch, 2022) and Shrinking Violet (Play_station Gallery, Wellington, 2020). Her recent violin and voice performances include: Whakarongo Whakaraupō – Festival of Sound (Christchurch, 2023); Pyramid Club (Wellington, 2021); Nowhere Festival (Audiofoundation, Whanganui, 2021) and Lines of Flight Festival (Dunedin, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013).
