New Project

I'm Fat, Not Huge

Tree

I have come to the realisation that I am fat but not huge. For a long time I was frustrated and upset with how I looked, beating myself up about it and feeling embarrassed and inferior in social situations. Coming from a background of being extremely slim and fit, this was a difficult transition to deal with. And indeed it was at art school where I put on this weight, thus making it doubly upsetting. Getting my degree cost me my appearance.

Sign

Brick Wall

Hedge

However, this project is about perspective and my self image. I have had a lot of time to think about my life and my work. I have changed my work to be more optimistic and light hearted. I am not taking myself so seriously any more which can only be a good thing. I don't care about these things now.

Bridge

Anchor

Fountain

Forty Hall

Previously I would photograph myself in a darkened corridor or building covered in darkness to represent my mood at the time. These are representative of the dark place I was in during my years at Chelsea. However I am not in that space any more so have no further use for this style of imagery. I feel I have made my peace with the past and am moving on to funnier, more colourful work. Colour at last!

Pagoda

Arnos Grove

Walkway

Memorial Poles

The blue clothing is mimicking the little blue scale man against the huge dinosaur in children's books. So from this angle, perhaps children could enjoy this work.

Big Boat

Big Man

Bloodhound

The piece is also regarding a feeling of insignificance  I am only THIS big compared to this massive thing next to me. Although on the outside this work has a tongue and cheek tone to it, there is also a layer of negativity which most adults can equate with. Uncertainties and insecurities surrounding ones self image. Everyone can relate to that.

 Museum

Brown Hedge

Lancaster

Nereid Monument

I set some rules for this work: If the image is horizontal I stand next to it, vertical, in front of it and if flat, I lie down next to it. The blue clothing took almost two weeks to mix and match to get the right combination of colours. The blue had to be roughly the same from head to toe.

Zebra

Aldenham

The process of making the images requires a performative element, standing like a statue and more often than not have to hold the pose while people pass me by wondering, what on earth is he doing? I don't care how I look now and what people think of me.

This body of work took me three and a half months, I plan to continue this idea as far as it can go.

Research links include Cindy Sherman, Anthony Gormley and Gilbert n George

(Posting this new concept on my blog to prove my authorship over it)

Tom Kikuchi

25 Things For My 25th Birthday

When my brothers and their girlfriends asked me what I wanted for my 25th birthday, I knew I wanted something different and unexpected. Me, being an artist, thought about this for a while then asked for 25 cheap consumable items leaving the interpretation of that completely up to them. They had three weeks so therefore needed to work quickly and with simplicity.

I essentially gave them a brief to make a conceptual piece of artwork.

What they came up with was this: 25 coloured tiny card boxes each with one or two pick n mix sweets inside, all with a corresponding numbers on the side denoting the order in which they were to be eaten. The tiny boxes were then placed into left over sushi trays. Alongside this my mother bought 25 assorted sweets and placed in a bag. This is what it looked like:

I thought the result was absolutely brilliant. It was awesome giving someone else my idea and seeing what they did with it. This made me feel great. The concept had been boiled down to its constituent part and what remained was a piece of superbly executed simplicity. I wanted my family to understand the thought processes that take place in making conceptual art and the mind set of an artist. I wanted them to understand how I think and work and most importantly I wanted them to understand me. 

I couldn't be happier with how this piece turned out. 

Tom Kikuchi

Volunteering

At my voluntary photography teaching job, we were doing an exercise regarding shining a strong light upwards into a pile of leaves. People in the group took it in turns to lean over and photograph the veins of the leaves.

While everyone was doing this, I was waiting for my turn then saw a great opportunity for a photograph. Four people leaning in towards a bright light surrounded by darkness, great. I was so happy with this image because it shows four people intently focusing on what they are doing. Despite me photographing them repeatedly they didn't even notice. The strong light source against the harsh shadows makes for great contrast. I also find it interesting the viewer cannot really see what they are all staring at which sparks curiosity. The variation in stances is appealing to me also. Here is the result.

And at the same time one member of the class decided to photograph me when I wasn't looking. When we shared our photographs at the end of the session, everyone was amused by this especially me. 

I am attracted to photographing people when they aren't expecting it, when they are natural and not posing. This gives the impression of an unseen watcher, very Edward Hopper-esque in my opinion. This is also the view of how other people view you. This job brings me great satisfaction.

Tom Kikuchi

The Youth Group

For the past 4 months I have been running a Youth Bipolar Support Group in Barnet. Despite my best efforts, advertising, emails etc, almost no one came. So every other Saturday morning (which was when it ran) I would go there and put everything out, the chairs and tables, flyers, tea and biscuits, start boiling the kettles, sticking notices onto doors and spreading encouraging messages on the floor. Then, as I always did, I'd pick a chair, sit down and patiently wait for anyone to arrive. This was an incredibly lonely and frustrating experience. From time to time, one or two people would appear, but generally speaking I was alone. Even when I'm trying to help people no one is interested.

This atmosphere struck me so much I knew I had to photograph it. I arrived extra early just in case someone did appear. Put the tripod down and realised the attachment was missing which connects the tripod to the camera! I kicked myself and thought how to improvise. So I pulled a table over and placed the camera on it. Not being able to use the viewfinder I switched to Liveview instead.

The composition is simple. Equal space on either side, central gap, enough space on the ceiling to show the strip lighting, I'm slightly off centre to not disturb the viewer's sight through the image and the window provides much needed light for the scene. (I guess the sunlight could represent hope for some people). I deliberately made the circle of chairs as tight as possible, to suggest a sense of artificial intimacy. And because I couldn't use the tripod, the perspective was forced down to the height of the table which was much lower than I intended. This was actually a blessing in disguise, this height puts the viewer in the perspective of the "people" attending the group and to imagine their experience of being in a supportive environment.

As I began taking photographs a thought occurred to me. Anyone who comes to a support group is protected by anonymity, no one can share what is said there to anyone outside that room. Anonymity, invisibility. Out of focus. So I deliberately blurred the image to represent anonymity. I was very pleased with this idea. Below is the resultant image:

The week after this shot was taken I made the decision to shut down the group. In total I would guess roughly three people turned up once in four months. I was very disappointed with this outcome.

Tom Kikuchi

Waiting...

I have a few small projects here collected together. Ideas that after testing them I don't think are viable in terms of being turned into large expansive projects. The first idea is called Waiting. I've been doing an awful lot of waiting lately and wanted to represent this by sitting on benches in my area. 

The composition was straight forward. Place myself in the centre of the frame, equal spacing on either side, above and below me and press the shutter. However when I deviated from this rigid structure I achieved much better results. This tells me not always to go for what seems most obvious and try something random from time to time.

However after spending a day doing this I found this to be extremely repetitive and boring. Here are the results:

I thought the wider shots looked more effective generally, but I can't make work that bores me so much. There was potential to use this idea for example in other environments where you have to wait but it would essentially still be the same shot each time. I may be open to continuing this idea at a later date, but for now I'll leave it to one side.

Tom Kikuchi

Winner of the Arts Depot Open 2012

Two months ago I entered into a local art competition. My work was accepted into the show and was included in the exhibition. Later I was told that my piece had been short-listed. I went to the private view and they announced that I was the winner. Here are some pictures of the space. My photograph Dramatic 2010 was what won me the competition.

Tom Kikuchi

Bipolar Imagery

Continuing with my project of photographing images that represent Bipolar Disorder, I saw this street light that was still on during the day. For me it represented waste because it was very bright outside and it didn't need to be on. (I work as a picture editor for an on-line newsletter regarding mental health news). The next headline I see that refers to waste I will attach this top image.

Sitting in my room with the curtains half closed I saw a chink of light coming through. When I puffed smoke from my electronic cigarette I noticed it was being illuminated in a cool fashion by the shaft of light. So I decided to photograph this. Trying to focus on the smoke was difficult so it  was very much a trial and error process. Headlines that refer to smoking I could use these images too. I am very pleased with the results.

Waste 2012

Tom Kikuchi

Supermarket

I recently did a shoot at a local supermarket with nice close up shots of the stock. I'm particularly interested in the patterns and colours created by the food packaging. I started with my old style photograph but then found photographing the shelves to be more interesting at the time. Top image I have called Booze Nation.

Booze Nation 2012

Heinz Baked Beans 2012

Tonic Water 2012

Beans 2012

Milk 2012

Pomace Oil 2012

Red Bull 2012

Snack a jacks 2012

Sunflower Oil 2012

Vodka 2012

Orange Juice 2012

Pasta Quills 2012

Bells 2012

Tom Kikuchi