September 29, 2009

Der Blick nach Innen - Inner View

Exhibition Masayo Odahashi

An artist – lost and found again

Eva-Maria Fahrner-Tutsek

At last, there it is! The picture of the figure, I have been searching for in my glass books for days.

Who doesn’t know this feeling! You remember an object you have come across in one of the many books that journeys across your desk, but you can’t remember which one it was. Or had it been in one of the art journals?

That happened to me in 2005, when I was busy organizing the next exhibition for the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung in Munich. The human face as a privileged part of the body, capturing character and expression, was to be central focus of the exhibition. I was desperately looking for a sculpture I once had seen, which I wanted to display in the exhibition at any cost because of its facial expression. The sculpture’s face, of which I had a very clear recollection, had captured exactly what I wanted to show: the human face as the experienced interface between the inner and the outer world.

It was the face of a young woman with clear Asian features and an earnest and concentrated expression. Although I clearly remembered the figure, I couldn’t remember the name of its creator. Could it be an artist from Japan? Again and again I was leafing through the respective books and journals until I found what I was looking for: the figure and the name of its creator. It was the Japanese artist Masayo Odahashi.

In the catalogue accompanying the exhibition The Face – Lost and Found Again it is said that people are irresistibly attracted to faces because of the diversity of information they transport (Fahrner-Tutsek 2006). It is the face that defines our individuality, the face that expresses emotions or communicates. And, last but not least, it is the face whose beauty and charisma enchants us. In art, the face is an important element to explore the boundaries between expression and soul, surface and depth.

A similar fascination emanates from Masayo Odahashi’s cast glass sculptures. This magnetism could be observed in the exhibition in Munich, where her sculpture Calm Water V was on display. The figure attracted visitors like a magnet, again and again they were going back to take a second and third look. But why were they so fascinated? What attracted them?

A young woman in a quiet and self-contained sitting position stares pensively at what she is holding in her hands. She looks fragile and delicate in her light purple, transparent, vitreous dress that contrasts distinctly with her dark face and combed, black hair. There is no direct communication with the outside world. Her face is a world of its own, only partly accessible to the viewer. Nevertheless, she doesn’t give the impression of being defensive, of excluding the viewer from her world. She engenders emotions and makes emotions transparent.

It takes a closer look to realize what the figure is holding in its hands: clear water. She is guarding it respectfully, with an almost astonished expression on her face. Her whole body is focused on this task that seems to give her strength and support. One cannot help admiring the peaceful meditation of the figure, its overflowing strength and concentration.

Masayo Odahashi’s sculptures reflect the inner world of ideas, emotions and common behaviour ingrained in nearly all people. She succeeds in translating complex states of mind. Therefore, it is not surprising that her work is attracting further attention and recognition also outside Japan. Her works are still hard to find – not only in books as I experienced while planning the exhibition in Munich, but also in galleries or museums. I am, therefore, very delighted that this solo exhibition of her recent works at Galerie B and Glasmuseet Ebeltoft is being shown, and hope that it will attract a large and enthusiastic audience in Germany and Denmark.

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