Aizome

Kim Boske - Aizome

Exhibition from 27 January to 17 June, open every Friday and Saturday from 1-5pm.

On the Japanese pilgrimage island of Shikoku, Kim Boske photographed the waters of the Akui Gawa. The river plays a central role in the work the artist made especially for De Utrecht. Kim Boske shows layered photographic images on traditional washi paper and gossamer-fine canvases dipped in natural Japanese indigo. The work refers to old processes that are almost forgotten. The exhibition is about appreciation of those crafts and awe of nature.

An aizome is not just a dye bath. An aizome must be made, cared for, pampered for weeks, treated gently like a baby, and above all: not overcharged. Each indigo bath has its own character, and you must observe that character carefully.

Several times Kim Boske attended an artist in residence programme in Japan, in the remote village of Kamiyama, which literally translated means "mountain of the gods. In the mountain village, water is everywhere. River Akui Gawa feeds it from its source at an altitude of 1,500 meters, gurgling, sloshing, gurgling and bubbling its way through the mountains to the northeast for some two hundred kilometers. How beautiful is it when Boske can dip the photographs she takes of the Akui's waters in an indigo bath made from plants growing on the banks of the rivers on Shikoku? How well can the photographed water in her photographs find its tangent in the color of the plants that owe their lives to this same water? Everything intertwines. 

'When I look at those prints, it's as if I see a mirage. I see atmosphere. I see shapes that are familiar but at the same time elude what I know. I see shadows and light. I see fingers, leaf-like motifs, rocks, foam and ash. I see water as I have seen it in my dreams: it can take on all forms and all forms can hide beneath the surface of the water. Everything I have ever seen reflected in water comes together in these prints. Piece by piece, layer by layer, side by side, under each other, different, yet equal.
-From the book Aizome

Art critic Lucette ter Borg wrote the essay for the book of the same name, which will be available at De Utrecht from January 27. Videographer Jonathan Sipkema and photographer Tom van Huisstede made a short documentary to accompany the exhibition about Kim Boske and the creation of her work.

Boske lives and works in Amsterdam. She was born in Hilversum in 1978 and graduated cum laude from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2005.

Since its opening in 2021, De Utrecht has invited artists to create work with which they enter into a dialogue with the building. A solo presentation, a book and a mini-documentary complement each other.