cloud collecting #2: Chiho Harazaki
always thinking about art, opening new doors + taking time to admire small things
cloud collecting includes 3-question interviews with women and gender-expansive artists discussing their creativity. I'm excited to have Chiho Harazaki, one of my favorite visual artists living in Southern California, share some insights into her process. Please take a moment to follow her here, every bit of support helps.
Chiho Harazaki was born and raised in the countryside of Japan. Spending time at the studio of her uncle, a renowned rock sculptor, Chiho's interest in art was stimulated at an early age. After moving to Los Angeles, she began using adhesive tape as her art medium while developing her practice in drawing, painting, and installation. Her use of precisely cut adhesive tape gives her work unique patterns, lines, and textures, evoking the feel of modern graphic design while also lending itself to works reminiscent of traditional Japanese arts like woodcut and papercutting. Perceiving life as a first-generation immigrant, Chiho explores her own identity through her art.
Chiho's artwork has been exhibited individually and collectively, including at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Art Share L.A, and the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego. She has also been commissioned to create large-scale installations for the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, the City of Santa Clarita, as well as for commercial clients like John Lobb.
1. I love the combination of traditional and modern elements in your art. Do you usually have a concept in mind before starting a piece, or does it unfold in the present moment?
Both. I am thinking about my art 24/7, as soon as I wake up and until I fall asleep. I am constantly documenting my ideas with keywords and sketches on paper so that I won't forget. I knead (develop and combine) the ideas, and eventually make a rough visual sketch. It may take days or years to get to that point. After I start creating the piece, sometimes my plan doesn't work, or better ideas occur to me during the process, so the final work may end up looking completely different than the first sketch.
2. What new lessons have you learned through your creative work in the past few years?
I built my career as a tape artist, but a while back I became frustrated with that medium, feeling that it had limitations that were holding me back from fully expressing myself. I became hopeless and depressed about my future. I had been avoiding creating artwork that expressed negative feelings, but I finally drew a man with only one wing that expressed the way I was feeling. This piece turned out to be the beginning of my figurative art series, and it opened a new door for my career. That experience taught me that it's important to be honest with myself and follow my heart in the creative process.
Also, that new door could not have opened without support from others. I was amazed to experience a deeper sense of how we are connected. Many opportunities happened because of my friends—including friends I'd made through social media. I also learned that not only being supported but also supporting others would make my circle bigger and more energized. You never know how your relationship dots may connect and bring new opportunities.
3. How do you cloud collect (connect to childlike wonder) in your creativity?
I take time to see and think, and to admire and appreciate small things in daily life. I prefer walking rather than running or biking, so I can discover small things. I like to connect to nature with an empty mind, touching rocks and trees, feeling wind, smelling plants, observing insects and animal activities. My mind will be eased and cleansed, and afterward I can think and feel more freely and purely.
I love your work (as usual), and I especially enjoyed your interview. Best wishes. You have a great future ahead of you.
Lin Piper-Wickham