INTERVIEW: Erika Nakasone Chinen talks to ArtworldNow

31.5.13

INTERVIEW: Erika Nakasone Chinen talks to ArtworldNow

By Martin Macdonald

Peruvian artist of Okinawan origin, Erika Nakasone Chinen (Lima, 1973) is based in Japan. Specialising in painting, Nakasone Chinen graduated with honours from the Escuela Nacional Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes del Perú in 1995. She also studied Japanese painting for a year at the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts. Her works can be found in important public and private collections both in Peru and overseas including at the Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Escuela Nacional Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes del Perú, and the Banco de Credito del Perú. Her most recent solo exhibitions have been held at the Cultural Centre of Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lima and at PROMO-ARTE Latin American Art Gallery in Tokyo, Japan.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Fundamentos del Neo Retablo (Fundamentals of the Neo Retablo), 2009
Acrylic on canvas on carved wood frame with gold leaf
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Saltando hacia la imaginacion (Jumping into imagination), 2007
Acrylic on fabric and wood, carved wood frame. H: 200cm, L:44cm, W: 7cm
Courtesy of the artist

Note: Peruvian altarpieces (retablos) are Andean folk art in the form of boxes which tend to depict religious events - typically nativity scenes.

Your artistic practice seems to draw inspiration from Peru (Pre-Columbian cultures and Catholicism) as well as from Eastern aesthetics. How does your art merge these very different worlds?

An attempt to understand my own identity brought me to Japan. Since my school days, life experiences and plain observation have served as a mode of research and this continues to influence and enrich my work’s conceptual development.

Peruvian altarpieces (retablos) follow a long tradition and therefore are not open to change. As an artist, I took the liberty of using Peruvian retablos and developing their forms within the framework of contemporary art - adding new concepts which break with tradition.

This becomes a kind of fusion, taking visual elements from both Japanese and Peruvian cultures. It is a fusion established over time and through my experiences in both lands. This is why I say that time and space are important in an artist’s career – in its unfolding and development.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Interior (Interior), 2004
Acrylic on fabric and wood. H: 64cm (spread fabric), 12.2cm (rolled fabric inside box), L: 5.5 cm. W: 5.5cm
Collection of the Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum. Courtesy of the artist

Why are Peruvian altarpieces (retablos) important to you?

Altarpieces entered Peru following the Spanish conquest. Placed within Spanish churches, they served as a symbol of evangelisation. Spaniards brought over their customs, religion, architecture – in general their culture and lifestyles – which differed from those of the Inca people. What differentiates Peruvian retablos is their spatial depth and the fact that they contain small figures made of potato flour. I see them as a cultural-religious mix - in as much as they are a symbol of Catholicism, they contain indigenous religious elements of ancient Peruvian civilisations. However, European altarpieces are comprised of paintings – they are two-dimensional.

As for me, I arrived in Japan with a different language and whilst I knew a lot about Peru, I knew very little about Japan apart from its customs and practices which I inherited from my Japanese ancestors. In Japan, I learned the different ways to select and recycle rubbish, to sleep on a futon and tatami, to sit on cushions on the floor, to greet others by bowing, to end sentences with a verb, to address individuals by their surname added to the word “san”, to live in narrow apartments and to put up with extreme weather conditiions which one doesn’t find in Lima. But I had no issues with the food!

My arrival in Japan was due to a scholarship granted by the Okinawa International Foundation. I was impressed by Okinawa’s colours and a culture which is very different to that of the rest of Japan as it was once a separate kingdom - Ryukyu - with its own language. After my stay on the island of Okinawa, I lived in various places in Japan. I would travel to Peru and then come back to Japan. I was in constant motion alongside my boxes, suitcases and artworks. The contents of these boxes and suitcases became me - my personal identity. They did not only represent my own identity as an artist but also all my tastes and the few possessions in my temporary boltholes. They defined me. Those were my initial years in Japan.

Because of this, I discovered the retablo-home-content-indentity connection. Once I moved to Ashikanga, prefecture of Tochigi, I started my altar piece series. I have been based here for several years now.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Si pudiese entender (If I could understand), 2009
Acrylic on wood and embossed aluminium. H: 65cm, L: 107cm, W: 5cm
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Conflictos y otras razones (Conflicts and other reasons), 2004
Acrylic on fabric and wood. H: 54cm, L: 35cm (closed door) 70cm (open door), W: 5.2 cm
Collection of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, El arte ceramico precolombino llevado a la contemporaneidad (Pre-Columbian ceramic art taken to contemporary times), 2010
Acrylic on wood, paper and pvc. 27 x 29 x 10cm
Courtesy of the artist

What do you mean by a new multicultural baroque?

My practice is inspired by both Peruvian and Japanese iconography. For instance, gold colour from Peruvian Viceroyal paintings, the forms of Pre-Columbian ceramics, the abstract geometry of Pre-Columbian designs, gold coloured frames from Viceroyal Peru, embossed metal, an expanded kimono form, “obi” sashes, the fine details and finishings of a kimono’s inner lining, white lines from painting techniques on material used to make kimonos, origami.

The coming together of these multicultural elements define me as an individual. Peru is multicultural not only because of its diverse geography – the coast, highlands and jungle - which grant it with a wide range of customs, dialects, clothing and cuisine but there has also been mass migration to Peru throughout history - including from japan.

As for Japan itself, it became multicultural with the arrival of foreign workers. One can now see immigrants from all over the world in Japan. Since antiquity Japan has absorbed foreign cultures and readapted them to fit its own system, without them appearing external. For instance, ideograms or kanjis, ikebana, Budhism or ramen come from China; kare’s strong spices are from India, kastera, a type of cake is Castillian.

I am therefore a result of this cultural mix – Peruvian and the history that entails and of Japanese descent. That’s where the baroque element enters the frame – it's multicultural, loaded with cultures.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Altar y Mezanine (Altar and Mezzanine), 2008
Acrylic on fabric and wood, photocopy, 4 hinges. H: 135cm, L:91cm, W: 15cm
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, En el pasado (In the past), 2010
Acrylic on fabric and wood. H: 42cm, L:46cm, W: 7cm.
Courtesy of the artist

What role does the search or consolidation of your own Nikkei identity play in your artistic practice?

In order to manifest oneself not only in a purely spontaneous manner, I must know myself. I am aware that inspiration and sensibility play an important role in art creation but I am also influenced by my own experiences that aid self-awareness as well as an understanding of my environment. We are all unique and no two people have exactly the same experiences, education, cultural roots and family nucleus. Bearing this in mind, it is very much possible to have an individual artistic practice, a unique art.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Al otro lado (On the other side), 2003
Acrylic on fabric and wood. H: 37.5cm, L: 22.5cm (closed door), W: 4cm
Private Collection of Mr Ohmori, ex Director of the Ashikaga Museum of Art
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Al otro lado (On the other side), 2003
Acrylic on fabric and wood. H: 37.5cm, L: 45.5cm (open door), W: 4cm
Private Collection of Mr Ohmori, ex Director of the Ashikaga Museum of Art
Courtesy of the artist

Do you regard your works as self-portraits?

I would say my works can be considered self-portraits even if this is not the intention. I do not take the concept of the self-portrait as necessarily portraying the artist's face, but instead it is what the artist shows through his/her art, life experiences and thoughts.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Grulla en Otoño (Crane in Autumn), 2007-2008
Acrylic on wooden box, mirror, origami paper cranes. 1.80 x 40 x 40cm
Courtesy of the artist

Erika Nakasone Chinen, Grulla en Otoño (Crane in Autumn), 2007-2008
Acrylic on wooden box, mirror, origami paper cranes (partial view). 1.80 x 40 x 40cm
Courtesy of the artist

Tell me about your use of vibrant colours:

Vibrant colours are like life – there is no prearranged pattern as to how to live it. Life has many hues, many tones as do colours. Like society itself, one cannot speak of a homogenous group. This is why my pieces differentiate colour planes by means of white lines – this helps establish order and reflects the different communities.

Okinawa island’s vibrant colours are found in its beaches, the sky, the Shuri Castle which dates back to the Ryuku Empire and kimonos. Its flavoursome food and drink. Its kind people who are also determined to preserve their long-held customs and traditions - that is an example of preserving identity and roots. The vibrant colours also symbolise strength.

Erika Nakasone Chinen, El Perú en mi corazón (Peru in my heart), 2009
Photocopy on fabric, acrylic on fabric and wood.
Collection of Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Courtesy of the artist