Anatomoto by Katrina Olson-Mottahed and Forwarded by Jaimie Driedger

What inspired me to create this show was a few things, as I wrote in my last blog post, anatomical drawing has been motivating me to create new ideas for these compositions, and slightly transitioned from my last show was really vibrant…I wanted to do female subjects again, but I wanted to do something softer and more neutral. So I thought of geisha’s, their polite appeasing and quietness, and the make up colors they wear, how it contrasts with their jet black hair and the monochromatic color scheme that produces. The really only hints at color in these pieces come from the kimonos or something they wear in their hair. I wanted something that felt fluid to me, and when I think back to the piece I did of Chifumi in 2008, it felt so natural and like it flowed easily for me. These pieces really flowed for me as well. Almost as if a continuation of that piece. One of my all time favorite films is Sophia Copolla’s Lost in Translation, and I can relate to Scarlett Johannson’s character in that film looking into the Japanese culture from an outsider and seeing so much and being completely overwhelmed because of both the complexities and the simplicities encompassed. I have a deep appreciation for the politeness and formality of culture in Japan. Geisha’s in themselves are an art form in Japan with their very traditional costume, dance and musical entertaining. The word geisha literally means “artist” and late in the eighteenth century this could have described an array of Japanese women artists. There is something to be said about a culture that celebrates the woman artist, and that women train their whole lives from a very young age well until their 70’s to be a Geisha. That is such a beautiful thing.  In a social style that is common in Japan, men are amused by the illusion of that which is never to be. The same way belly dancers are to the Arab culture, which I did my last show on as the subject Rouge Arabian Dancers. I am motivated by the movement of the female form, the anatomy, the figure, and the innate seduction the female entertainers possess. The name of my show was a mash-up of anatomy+motivation= anatomoto. I wanted something that sounded like a Japanese word, and that was ambiguous enough as to leave people questioning what it means. It doesn’t translate into anything. I spent some time in Japan in 2005 and I remember once getting lost on the subway and being in a station, and this wonderful little old woman was trying to help me but spoke no English. I bet she spent 15 minutes at least explaining to me and pointing in Japanese, and I just kept saying thank you to her many times and nodding politely, but I understood nothing. The only thing that she translated to me was her patience and kindness.

Forward By Jaimie Driedger:

“It is all very well to copy what one sees, but it is far better to draw what one now only sees in one’s memory. That is a transformation in which imagination collaborates with memory.”  – Edgar Degas

Katrina OIson-Mottahed’s new show, Anatomoto, invites the viewer to not only enjoy the fluid landscapes of the physical form, but also the delicate side of Japanese culture. The tones present in the pieces within the show are, for the most part, softly monochromatic, with bright jolts of black or colour to keep the eye engaged. Compared to the high symbolism and rich colours of her last show, Rouge Arabian Dancers, Anatomoto is beautiful, but more understated and even discreet. The figures are compelling, the ideas meaningful, but serene. Even the name of this show is a new creation, merging two words to make a new one (anatomy + motivation = anatomoto) and it fuses form, colour and beauty from which something entirely different has emerged.

First of all, why focus on anatomical drawings? In Ms. Olson-Mottahed’s own words, it was where she first developed her skill as a “physical” artist: putting pencil, charcoal, or brush to paper: “During my B.F.A. at the University of Calgary, my initial concentration of courses during my first two years was drawing, and specifically anatomical drawing. Going back to my honed fundamentals, like charcoal, graphite and chalk with this series feels very organic and natural to me.” People specializing in many professions are required to do anatomical drawings to gain a deep and intimate meaning of the human body. Anatomy is the cornerstone of most medical studies, and people in ancient times found the body so mysterious that anatomy was almost like an exploration. Taken quite literally, anatomy means to get to know a person beneath their skin.

It is no wonder that the study of art requires the same familiarity with the human body, for artistic expression requires that kind of understanding. Ms. Olson-Mottahed’s return to the basic process of creation has made the forms of the subjects the primary focus. The expressions of the women, the curves of their bodies: the subtle lines that compose these works speak volumes.

Secondly, why the use of Japanese women as subjects? Well, Katrina admits freely that it is a kind of love letter to Japan, a country that she feels very interested in and connected to. Having spent time in the Middle East, she found the belly dancers very compelling. Thinking about Japan, she was drawn to the figure of the Geisha: “I have a deep appreciation for the politeness and formality of culture in Japan. Geishas are an art form in Japan with their very traditional costume, dance and musical entertaining. The word Geisha literally means “artist” and late in the eighteenth century this could have described an array of Japanese women artists.There is something to be said about a culture that celebrates the woman artist. Women train their whole lives from a very young age well until their seventies to be a Geisha. That is such a beautiful thing.  In a social style that is common in Japan, men are amused by the illusion of that which is never to be, as belly dancers are in Arab culture, which I did my last show on, Rouge Arabian Dancers. I am motivated by the movement of the female form, the anatomy, the figure, and the innate seduction the female entertainers possess.”

Anatomoto is another deeply felt investigation of a foreign culture and a role played by women within that culture. Rather than just use travel as recreation, Ms. Olson-Mottahed has brought her artist’s eye and natural curiosity together to examine a facade–again, a beautiful and culturally relevant one, but a facade all the same–that she wishes to know more intimately and pass that knowledge on to us. These delicate and beautiful depictions of Geishas and the “real”, female bodies communicate to us that they have always been one in the same, leaving nothing lost in the translation.