“Billowing Hearts” (installation view) by Fuko Ito, Watercolor & colored pencil on paper, 126x156in, 2018
Imagine a world without edges and you begin to understand the work of Fuko Ito. All of figures and the environments that surround them are plush, but not necessarily lacking in conflict or even violence. In her artist’s statement, Ito explains: “Plush is a texture that is both soft yet firm — it is able to absorb trauma and mend itself back into shape. I imagine our hearts and emotional capacities to have the same visceral effect of being bruised and healed like plush. In my drawings, I portray naked, vulnerable creatures called ‘fumblys’ in this plushy ecosystem.”
“Humans and their material belongings collapsed after the ‘Apocalypse of Intolerance’ in which those who denied kindness and compassion to others destroyed humankind. These plushy naked creatures began sprouting from the human remains of those who cared for the well being of themselves and others. Fumblys fill their infinite ecosystem with plush to save themselves from the collapse, fall, and heartache they experience from living among themselves. In my image-making process, I play with color, light, luminosity, and texture to amplify the soft, radiant, and delicate sensations that exist in the otherworldly space of fumblys.”
“Squeeze Cap” by Fuko Ito. Monotype with hand coloring, 17.5x23.5in. 2019
Ito’s imagery is deeply rooted in fantasy that is childlike but not childish, a nursery with all of the rough edges rounded out that still contains indications of the disruption of creativity. In the hand-colored monotype “Squeeze Cap” one of the fumblys has “given birth” to an explosion of plush infants, a bloodless event that nevertheless is graphic in depicting a ferocious eruption of the host form. Ito’s alternate world may be soft, but it does not lack passion or a perspective with social commentary.
“Like in Mannerist works, I exaggerate physical features and figurative gestures of the fumblys to dramatize emotion and physical sensations of grasping, embracing, and releasing. I reinterpret cultural and individual signifiers by presenting fumblys as faceless, naked beings in which empathetic gestures and expression is visualized only through body language. Furthermore, I reference figurative works by male artists throughout art history as a way to question the gendered moral hierarchy of historical narratives. I attempt to reinvent the male-gaze driven imagery by extracting hostility, aggression, and objectification from my figurative forms to ultimately envision a more non-binary narrative that complicate the lines of protagonist and antagonist.”
“The plushy world of fumblys is not a vision of a hopeless romantic but is a world of soft, affectionate sensations that exists in protest to the often unforgiving social structures we live in. Through navigating my own surroundings and bringing my experiences back into the studio, I attempt to build a more empathetic view of the world and ultimately transcend and invite my viewers into a plushy parallel universe.”
“Shruggles” by Fuko Ito, Graphite & colored pencil on paper, 24x18in, 2017
Ito exhibits frequently, and is scheduled to participate in two upcoming shows in 2020: "CELEBRATION," at WomensWork.Art Gallery in Poughkeepsie, NY, and "Comfort & Joy," at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, MO.
She has exhibited in Portugal and Japan most recently was in a show with Eugene Sarmiento at Powell Botanical Gardens in Kingsville, MO.
Hometown: Kobe, Japan
Education: Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking and Drawing, Honors, University of Kansas, 2018; Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking and Artists’ Books, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2014
Website: www.fuko-ito.com/
Instagram: @fukoito
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“Plushscapes” by Fuko Ito, Colored pencil on paper, 8x10in, 2018
“Soft Armours” by Fuko Ito, Colored pencil on paper, 14x23in, 2019
“Plushscapes” by Fuko Ito, Colored pencil on paper, 16.5inx12in, 2018
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.
