Michiyo Kamei / 亀井三千代
Michiyo Kamei began her career as a painter in an unusual environment. In
other words, she was involved in drawing human anatomical diagrams in the
medical field, and from this experience she developed an original idea that
could be called an anatomical fantasy.
At that time, Kamei's first idea was to fuse anatomical drawings and
botanical drawings. In such experimental attempts, the viscera exposed on
the surface of the drawing paper fully expresses the unexplored body and the
wildness of the body, and is vividly alive. Images of flowers full of
natural vitality are duplicated in these images , and the anatomical
drawing and the botanical drawing are beautifully married. Nature within
the human body resonates with nature outside the human body. Then, the
collection of grotesque organ fragments will blossom into fleshy flowers,
loudly reciting flesh-colored poetry.
Kamei, who had accumulated such ambitious works, was eventually struck by a
new vision. The fusion of anatomical drawings and shunga paintings that has
guided her art up to the present is also an original and unusual theme, but
this combination cannot help but take on a more complex form than the
combination of anatomical drawings and botanical drawings. Men and women,
on an anatomical level, devour each other from deep within. Fragments of
flesh and exposed bone shards jumble together, swirled together by some
sort of magnetic field. Chaotic power flowing from the realm of darkness
overruns and disturbs the territory of Eros. The shadow of death repeatedly
drives men and women into a frenzy of sexual play, inciting them until the
boundaries between self and other become blurred, and finally illuminating
beyond their own disappearance.
Michiyo Kamei coolly visualized such chaos, and made full use of her
refined techniques to meticulously fix it on drawing paper. Even at this moment,
she is probably quietly wielding her paintbrush, eyeing the peak where
sex-life and death will reach a forbidden union. Soma Toshiki (art critic)
亀井三千代は、画家としてのキャリアを一風変わった環境から開始した。すなわち、彼女は医療現場で人体解剖図を描く職に携わり、その経験から解剖幻想とでも称すべき独創的な着想を育んでいったのである。
その際、まず亀井が着手したのは解剖画と植物画とを融合させるという綺想であった。そうした実験的試みにおいて、画紙－表層に晒された臓腑は未開の肉体の野生を存分に表明し、生々しく息づいているが、それらのイメージに自然の生気に満ちた草花のイメージが二重写しされ、解剖画と植物画は見事に婚礼を遂げる。人体の内の自然は、人体の外の自然と共鳴する。そして、グロテスクな臓器の破片の集積は肉質の花々として開花し、肉色華の詩を高らかに詠いだすだろう。
さて、かくのごとき意欲作を積みあげていった亀井は、やがて新たなヴィジョンに打たれることとなる。現在にいたるまで彼女の画業を方向づけた、解剖画と春画との融合という、これもまた独創的かつ奇抜なテーマであるが、この組み合わせは解剖画＋植物画を凌ぐ複雑な形をとらざるをえなかったようである。男と女は解剖学的な次元で、深き内より貪るがごとくまぐわう。肉の断片と剥きだしにされた骨片はごったがえし、ある種の磁場により渦を巻きながら混淆する。闇黒の領域から流れ込むカオティックな力が、エロスの領土を蹂躙し、掻き乱していく。死の影が性の戯れに狂い舞う男と女を繰り返し駆り立て、自他の境界が朧げになるまで煽り立てて、ついには彼ら自身が消失する彼方を照らしだす。
そのような混沌を亀井三千代は冷徹に視覚化し、磨きあげた技法を駆使して緻密に画紙へと定着させた。彼女は、今このときも、性－生と死が禁断の一致を果たす頂点(ピーク)を見据え、静かに絵筆をふるっていることだろう。 相馬俊樹（美術評論）
"The prototype of the universe, draw the inside and outside of the human body"
My body is both my own and a part of the natural world.My interest in this ambiguous body led me to study anatomy. In anatomy, we learned that the bodies of all living things have the same origin and have evolved together, resonating with the same rotational rhythm of celestial bodies for hundreds of millions of years. I believe that the locus of resonance between the microcosmos and macrocosmos is imprinted not only on the human body but even on the structure of a small flower as the " prototype image of the universe '' In this exhibition, based on the " prototype image of the universe '' I incorporated anatomical drawings (death), shunga (sexuality and life), and even plant shapes, in order to explore my own body mandala drawings that wish for the cycle and balance of life. The various mysteries of life are brought to light through my paintings, and I hope that viewers will feel the eternity of life rather than its ephemerality. Michiyo Kamei
★Shunga Gallery: Michiyo Kamei shunga (shungagallery.com)
【research paper】
Michiyo KAMEI, Draw an anatomical art as a <morph>：With Shigeo MIKI's Natural History of Biological Morph, Bulletin of Cultural Study on KATACHI 16, 2022,13-22.
This article focuses on the anatomical illustration by biologist and anatomist Shigeo MIKI (1925-1987), who conducted research in both the medical and artistic fields. Since ancient Greece, medicine has continually evolved with drawings. This means that illustrations reflect the thought of the times. Therefore, here we will examine Miki's thought from the perspective of anatomical illustrations and explore the possibilities of anatomical art by introducing my works as production examples. Michiyo Kamei
Keywords: Anatomical art, Zodiac Man, Ontogenesis, bodyscape, Shunga, Goethe's morphology, Shigeo Miki
©形の文化会 (katachi-imagination.org)
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I like drawing "Body landscapes" which combine anatomical charts with "Shunga" wood block prints.
We have a body which is full of the mystery of life. The question, "Who are we?" caused me to study anatomy and dissection. Anatomy still influences my work as does Shunga' s erotica, energy, life and sex an iconography of life. Having seen so many dissected bodies in university. I began to create an art form which embodies life and death.
My work is done with natural pigments and glue, called "Nihonga" and ink on Japanese paper. The fluidity of ink and natural pigments allow me to spatialize different morphological elements. When I use ink (Sumi) I also paint myself and use my body to create works on "Washi". The combination of life, sex & death becomes like a mandala symbolizing the eternity of life rather than its ephemeral nature.
Michiyo Kamei
<Longing for soaring >1620×1940mm
Painted with sumi(Japanese ink)on washi(Japanese paper).2019 Michiyo Kamei.
"Dress series" Sumi and my body on Japanese paper ,
1360 x 690 mm x 14 sheets. 2020 Michiyo Kamei
"totem" Sumi and my body on Japanese paper ,
5000 x 1100 mm , 2022 Michiyo Kamei
