Sunday, August 17, 11:45 am – 12:00 pm
The Garrick Theatre, Bonavista
In this presentation, Haruna Sugisaki will share her process of making pigments from natural sources. In November 2024, Sugisaki spent a week on the Bonavista Peninsula creating pigments with materials including plants, rock, seashells, and whale bone. For her new commission featured in String Games, Sugisaki held an open studio painting workshop for members of the community to drop in and help create large-scale paintings.
Haruna Sugisaki is an artist based in Ōiso, Japan. She graduated from Tokyo Zokei University in 2017 with a degree in painting. After graduation, she shifted her field to the sea and mountains, focusing on the contact point where human activities and nature’s life force intersect. Through experiences rooted in local climates, such as mountain climbing and cooking, she seeks to perceive and express the power of nature and the cycle of life. She is known for a process called “Playing with Soil,” where she collaborates with citizens and students to paint murals using pigments derived from natural materials like soil, plants, and soot collected from the scenes she visits. Her work has been exhibited in Japan at Yokohama Museum of History; Nishiaizu International Art Village, Fukoshima; and Kakegawa Teaennale, Kakegawa City; and internationally at Mingju Museum of Art, Shanghai, China; Gangwon International Triennale 2024 Ecological Art from Beneath, South Korea; and Forest Art Festival 2023, Ladakh, India.