Homare Ikeda

In Residence: January 12 and March 6, 2009 Exhibition opens March 5; continues through March 20, 2009 Learning Labs: William Smith High SchoolLines in Space opens March 5, 2009Special Event:February 23, 6:30 - 7:30 pmArtist Talk: Homare Ikeda, work-in-progressCreative Resident Homare Ikeda talks about his work-in-progress; followed by a discussion of artist residency opportunities in the areaSuggested donation: $5Homare Ikeda was born in Yoron Island, a small subtropical island near Okinawa, Japan, often called the "Pearl of Asia." Homare states: "I used to sit on the white sand beach where I could watch the horizon. Whenever a ship approached the island, I imagined the people and things I hadn't seen in the world beyond the ocean. I dreamed of becoming a sailor. Now I live in Denver, Colorado, surrounded by mountains, very far away from my hometown. I hold my paintbrushes at the foot of the mountains, longing for the bottom of the ocean. Ocean is the root of life as well as origin of my creations. Mountain is my vanishing point. My work is about wonder, longing and quest."During his residency, Homare will continue his ritual of doing eleven ink drawings every morning. These will become a visual guide for translating them into large canvases. He will also record and activate the ink drawings in digital format, creating a short animation summarizing each day's work. Working with youth fromWilliam Smith High School in Learning Labs, Homare will help them create ink drawings that will be collected into a form such as an artist book. The final exhibition will feature Homare's paintings, ink drawing and animations as well as the work created by the youth.Ikeda's work has been exhibited in galleries around the world in one-person and group exhibitions, as in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, Saks Fifth Avenue in NY, Sabichira-kan in Japan, and numbers public private collections throughout the country.