I will hold workshops with local children of various ages on planting trees and drawing and observing plants. I want to cook for the local people using naturally occurring ingredients (leeks, mushrooms, berries, herbs, etc.).

Post-Residency Plans

I will start by reporting on my life in Aso on my blog. I will hold workshops where I teach the local dishes I made in Aso.

I will introduce the project on the Holdfast Collective official website and in the GSA Sustainability In Action Group. I will write articles in local artist magazines.

Artist in Aso 2014 Artwork

At 22, Arabella was the youngest artist and likely experienced numerous inspirations and stimulations. Meeting Katarzyna, an artist from Poland who ended up working together with Arabella, will likely have a big influence on her work in the future. Arabella’s work changed from her initial proposal of a sculpture installation to a specific expression using a sake brewery as an exhibition space for tools used in sake brewing. This change could be the result of coming face-to-face with a culture so alien as to be like a fantasy. Arabella’s actual exhibit was located in a dark room, with dead insects and their prints, and a moss-covered thread winding machine, lit only by flashlight.

The collaboration with Katarzyna led to new developments in the project that involved interactivity and an audio installation. Workshops with Aso elementary school students and university lectures deepened Arabella’s connections to the people of Kumamoto and she was able to communicate through art. The artist’s unconscious and the resounding darkness of the space seem to combine to create a ghostly tale.