URARA
TSUCHIYA
Artist
ISSUE 1 2024 SS
Urara Tsuchiya is a Japanese artist based in Glasgow. Her work mainly revolves around ceramics, spanning from performances and videos to collaborations with various photographers. Her unique style of ceramics is striking, represented in playful hand-painted motifs. In an extraordinary and humorous way, she questions our unconscious view of the world, the contradictions that arise in our daily life and social rules concerning gender or sexuality. As an artist, what does Tsuchiya see in everyday life? What does she try to get across to the viewers through her creations? Let us find out the process behind her creative pursuit.
In July 2023, Tsuchiya exhibited at PARCEL, an art gallery in Nihonbashi Bakurocho Tokyo, two of her works-Bowl/ 'Manatee' and Tree Light/ 'Night Tree'-she created while staying at a Shigaraki ware artist residency in Japan (The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Shiga).The initial idea was to make vessels and jars using a potter's wheel then adding three-dimensional objects as a twist. This idea came from the "Upside Down Hakata Dolls" which her grandmother showed her when she was younger. It was a cute cat doll on a cushion, revealing a Shunga (traditional Japanese erotic art) when turned upside down. This duality of things gave her inspiration, and her current style is based on the influence of the memory of what she felt back then. The vessel portraying people from various genders and with various combinations having sex, came from the idea, "How awkward it is to eat your meal on a plate like this," she says. Incorporating different ideas into it, the concept is just this: to offer an "awkward mood."
The new underwear series, subtly detailed and realistic, was created last year while she lived in Hokuto City in Yamanashi Prefecture. Based on existing underwear, she explains the process of creating these works as sewing with clay. "I spend a lot of time on the process, and I keep adding ideas so it can't be finished in a day" she says. Clay requires careful daily management to prevent it from drying out. Most importantly, she values the process of creation from the beginning to its completion. So, what is the message that transfers through her work that attracts us so much? "There is nothing special. Each work is a reflection of what I’m feeling and thinking at that moment,” she says. Tsuchiya adopts ideas for her work from narratives from friends and from her own experience. Her works are very personal and intimate.
Society and the environment surrounding us do have some influence over her creations. she says, “As long that I’m alive, I’m a member of this society and cannot avoid its significant influence. As an artist, I must have an opinion about society, share it with people, make up my mind and decide my path. Otherwise, I’ll just cease to be myself.” Tsuchiya is so sincere in facing herself and society, creating artworks to be her true self, and expressing her ideas by pointing out ironies and issues about society through her creations.
During our conversation over video call, Tsuchiya, drinking her tea in a simple yet beautiful white Shigaraki-ware cup, shared her thoughts: “Recently I’ve been constantly watching the news about Palestine, and although I need to work on my upcoming exhibition, I’m not motivated at all. Devastating news only increases my pain and affects my daily life. ”To avoid loneliness and depression, she joins protest march whenever she can with friends that are visiting from abroad. “It depends on your culture or the environment you live in but, I feel that people must stand up for themselves. Sometimes, there are more important things than being economically productive in our job,” she told us earnestly.
“I’m now preparing a photographic work project in collaboration with photographer Ben Toms. Based on a huge number of references he has sent me, I’m starting to create the costumes,” she says. Tsuchiya handles the entire costume production process by herself, including choosing the fabrics and drawing patterns. When we asked about her near future plans, she answered: “I want to make videos. And moreover, I think it would be interesting to exhibit my past works by presenting them as an installation.” She constantly ponders her ideas in her head and strives to materialize them.
What drives her to be so energetic and to keep moving forward? “I produce and work on my art everyday just as everyone else goes to work. If I didn’t, it makes me feel as if I am unemployed,” she says. It is only natural for her to devote herself into creation, which is just a daily routine in the same way we work everyday.
Tsuchiya is striving to express herself as an artist, in an age where people are losing individuality and tending to behave all the same. Furthermore, being a woman herself, she encourages women to stand up, both as individuals and as a social group. “Not one person is the same and it is normal for everyone to be different,”she told us.This was an obvious, yet important lesson she reminded us about.
URARA TSUCHIYA
Born in Osaka, Japan. Tsuchiya is an artist based in Glasgow. She graduated with an MFA from Glasgow School of Art then entered Goldsmiths’ College in London. She exhibits her work at renowned art fairs and exhibitions such as Frieze London (UK), Glasgow International (UK), Trade Gallery U3 and Union Pacific U3 She¼s having a soTo exhibition at Union Pacific from April and is also taking part in a group exhibition at the Museum of Sex in New York.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Yuto Kudo
INTERVIEW: Reiko Ishii
PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSISTANCE: Yoshimi Horinouchi
Questionnaire
1
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What do you do?
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I’m an artist.
2
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Tell us what you love the most about your job.
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The process of creation and the fact that I have many opportunities to travel abroad.
3
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What made you start your current job?
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I studied Contemporary Art at university and grad school.
4
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Who are the most influential persons in your life?
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My mother, I guess. She’s a very open minded and pragmatic person.
5
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Describe yourself in 3 words
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Realistic, Imaginative, Cynical.
6
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What is the thing that you are very interested in now?
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I pray for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to put an end to the genocide perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinians. I’m constantly thinking what I can do to help.
7
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What are three things you cannot live without?
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My passport. My friends. My phone.
8
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What do you always have on you?
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Phone. Keys. Credit card.
9
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Tell us about your morning routine.
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First thing I do when I get up is having a cup of coffee and a cigarette then I go back to bed and scroll on my broken iPhone. When I forgot to wash my face the night before I do that before going back to bed.
10
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What is your favorite drink?
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Wine, Mezcal, Japanese sake, Paloma, Margarita, Campari Spritz.
11
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What do you get immersed in, losing track of time?
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Creating.
12
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What is the ultimate luxury for you?
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To have an amazing big warm and bright studio with lots of space, with all my tools and my friends around.
13
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When do you feel stimulated or inspired?
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When I go see an exhibition, when I travel or hang out with my friends.
14
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What is your favorite color?
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Blue
15
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What is your favorite taste of food?
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Yuzu koshō, cinnamon, basic Japanese condiments or spices.
16
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What is the most important decision you have made in your life?
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17
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What was the most moving moment in your life?
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It’s relatively recent. When I listened to a speech by a Palestinian student who grew up in England at a protest march for Palestine.
18
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What is the most recent book you have finished reading?
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Majo to Seijo by Shunichi Ikegami.
19
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Who is your favorite author?
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20
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What are your three favorite books on the bookshelf?
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His Monkey Wife by John Collier,
Story of O by Pauline Réage,
The Green Child by Herbert Read.
21
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Where would you like to go for a trip?
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Mexico
22
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Which country would you like to visit in the future?
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Latin America
23
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Where is your favorite hotel?
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A hotel in Paris that a friend of mine was staying at. The room had a glass enclosed shower in the room−it looked pricey!
24
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What is the most memorable place you've visited?
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25
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Where is home for you?
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26
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What is your favorite recent song?
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I listen a lot to NTS Radio, an online radio platform based in London.
27
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Who’s your favorite singer?
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28
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What is the one song you can listen to all the time?
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29
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What are your three favorite movies?
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Fassbinder films, La Bête, A Real Young girl, The Baby.
30
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What are some of your favorite movies you've seen recently?
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I was watching The Zone of Interest with my editor friend, but I fell asleep on the sofa after 10 mins.
31
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When you meet someone for the first time, what is the first point that catches your eye?
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If they are sincere or fake.
32
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Which word do you use to greet friends?
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How are you?
33
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What is the best advice you have received from people?
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I decide my own value.
34
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What do you wear in bed?
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Sometimes I fall asleep wearing the clothes or even the coat I was wearing that day. I get changed when I’m not too tired and wear a T-shirt and my undies.
35
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What is your motto?
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If it's not morally wrong anything goes. I also love to laugh and make the others laugh as well.
