Sandra Pitkin

I commenced my association with Japan in 1986 with the study of Japanese papermaking and woodcut printing. I exhibited regularly before completing BVA Hons at Sydney College of the Arts in 1997 in sculpture and installation. I have continued to exhibit inside and outside gallery spaces; including Sculpture by the Sea, where I was awarded the NEC Site Specific prize in 2000

Although my interest in Japan commenced with papermaking, it has expanded to an appreciation of the spiritual, the cultural, and the Japanese incorporation of art into daily life. The acknowledgement of the beauty and complexity of nature is a strong element within Japan and exists within my own art practice.

A recent visit to Kyoto extended my thinking in relation to place and form and the differences evident in the Australian and Japanese appreciation of space. This provided the basis for an exhibition at the JCC gallery last year and an ongoing investigation of our two cultures.