Rieko Fujinami February 20, 2009

In her premiere exhibition with Forum Gallery, Japanese artist Rieko Fujinami presents 21 drawings on Mylar and Fresco Secco paintings. The artist uses these two distinct processes to create a body of work that is cohesive in its ethereal and haunting take on portraiture. For her drawings on Mylar film, Fujinami first applies dry pigment to one side of the film to create the image. Once the image is fixed, she uses a combination of gesso, acrylic paint, charcoal, pastel, pencil and dry pigment to the reverse, creating the complex, layered images that emerge in each piece. Fujinami's process of Fresco Secco begins with wire mesh, onto which she affixes a plaster mixture; she makes the plaster surface intentionally rough. Once the plaster has dried, the artist applies layers of pigment to achieve the delicate tonality in each finished artwork.