Maki Fine Arts is pleased to present "Another Yesterday," a solo show by Shu Ikeda opening Saturday, September 24, 2011. Ikeda is known for cutting out photographs, seen as records of the past, and transforming the cutouts into brand new shapes, voids, and shadows. In this show, the up-and-coming artist will showcase eleven of his new works.

"My work is created by cutting out photographs that I have taken myself. The subjects I work with are mostly nature--sceneries that capture light and transform easily. I opt for these subjects because I see beauty in delicate things that change over time and eventually break down.

"When I cut shapes out of the photographs, I sometimes cut directly along the lines of the subjects in the photo, but there are also times when I'm inspired to cut out an original shape, light, or space as if I'm drawing. I also feel that the act of slowly and carefully cutting out the scenery, a scenery captured by camera and instantly turned into 'the past,' may be similar to the feel of pursuing a separate time and image and then stacking it layer by layer.

"The title of this show 'Another Yesterday' stems from the reassembling of such new scenes. While the newly-surfaced shapes and shadows seen in the voids of the cut-out photographs invite a comparative visual contrast, such as image vs. matter and existence vs. void, they may also help us understand the photograph and image."

- Shu Ikeda

About the Artist

Shu Ikeda was born 1979 in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan and graduated from the Tokyo Zokei University in 2004. In 2009, he received the jury award at the Tokyo Wonder Wall art competition and also received an honorable mention at the Canon New Cosmos of Photography competition. In 2011, Ikeda exhibited his solo show "trivial today, transient tomorrow" at the Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo and "Please Remember Me" at the Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong. He continues to showcase the unique voids and shadows he creates by cutting out photographs. Ikeda currently lives in Tokyo, Japan.