Michelle Zacharias: Born in Canada but currently resides in Japan. ザカライアス、ミッシェル: カナダ生まれ、現在日本に住んでいる.
ミッシェル・ザカライアスは日本に20年以上住んでいるカナダ人アーティスト。今日本のアーティストかカナダのアーティスト？ いつでも、どこでも、新人の感じをして、中からじゃなくて外から見られる気がする。主に色鉛筆を使って制作活動を行っており、二年前京都芸術祭で国際芸術賞を受賞した。複雑な色使いと混沌とした作風が保守的だとか、芸術的すぎるとの批評家のコメントも理解しているが、彼女にとって芸術とは、商業的でも概念的でもなく、自分自身が楽しんで取り組むものなのだ。
As a visual artist, Michelle Zacharias always seem to be on the outside looking in. As a Canadian in Japan, that is definitely the case. Is she now a Canadian artist or a Japanese artist? Do these labels work in an international context? Add to that her choice of media and style and…voila! Although this is the 21st century and the rest of the world is digital, she is decidedly analog and works primarily in etching, conté crayon, and coloured pencil. Too conservative for the artsies and too artsy for the conservatives; too analog for the digital age and too abstract or organic for those painstakingly doing photographic copies. Be it black-and-white etchings or colourful drawings, she unfailingly chooses a style that requires way too much time.
Glub, glub! As you can guess by the title, I sometimes feel like a fish in the fish bowl or somebody on the outside watching the fish swim by in the tank. Not quite one or the other. Words and pictures can hopefully bridge the gap between languages, people, and distances to hopefully get word out in the world about my art, the work of my friends, and just be able to get a peek inside.
Outside the Fish Bowl 