INSPIRING RESIDENCY AND TALK WITH SAYOKO TAKAHATA AT SHA

Sandy Hill Arts hosted a fascinating talk by AUB Phd Painting student Sayoko Takahata on 23rd October. 

Sayoko held her audience rapt while she explained the Japanese concept of ‘Ma,’ or the space in between things, and how this has informed her work. The talk was the culmination of a month long residency that Sayoko held at Sandy Hill Arts where she worked outside, among the natural environment on site and in nearby countryside. 

 Of her studies Sayoko who is a part of the AUB Drawing Research Group writes:

 “My PhD research investigates how contemporary painting practice informed by the Post-Impressionist movement of Pointillism can represent the presence of absence: the Japanese cultural concept of “Ma (間)”. “Ma” means gaps, intervals and void between something in terms of time and space …This research purposes to bridge the Western and Eastern perspectives on the presence of absence.”

She gave extremely positive feedback with regard to her experiences at Sandy Hill Arts :  

“I found Sandy Hill Arts very supportive for my art residency as part of my painting practice-based research in a PhD at Art University Bournemouth. Because of their arrangement of my residency and their understanding of artists’ perspectives, I was able to focus on my field practice based on the studio space in Sandy Hill. Conversations with the artist members in various disciplines were also inspiring and encouraging to conduct my practice. Their assistance significantly prompted me to develop my practice and investigations of the research theme, the Japanese concept of “Ma”. I shared the residency outcomes, collected information of my sensory experiences through drawing in nature of Purbeck, with the members and local artists in my exhibition and talk hosted by Sandy Hill Arts. It was an amazing opportunity for me to consider my research, interact with the local artist community and exchange ideas. I hope that my research helps their creative practice. Thank you very much to Sandy Hill Arts for your wonderful assistance.”