Artist Statement
by SUGIURA Mariko

My artistic theme is “consumption and the regeneration of everyday life.” Materials such as cardboard and kraft paper, discarded in the course of daily use, are deemed valueless the moment their roles come to an end. Yet within their textures, colors, and lightness lies the potential to be given form once again. By reclaiming and reconstructing these materials, I seek to uncover new value within the cycles of a consumer-driven society.

My semi-relief works in paper art emerge through the accumulation of simple processes—cutting, layering, folding, and bending—while also incorporating painterly approaches. When paper, a fragile and ephemeral material, begins to assume form within a structured composition, it carries a tangible sense of “regeneration.” For me, the act of making centers on rendering visible the temporality and plasticity inherent in the material.

In past exhibitions, I have constructed spaces reminiscent of a room belonging to someone living abroad. Through motifs such as cardboard records, kraft paper boots, lamps, and food—objects that evoke a sense of foreign daily life—I quietly bring into view the relationship between consumption and regeneration. When used materials once again take shape as elements of “everyday life,” I feel that a renewed sense of human warmth comes to inhabit the scene.

View details: NAGAOKA Kazumi + SUGIURA Mariko

SUGIURA Mariko

Born
1981, Hyogo, Japan

Education

2004  BFA in Textile Design, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024  A room in Brooklyn, Gallery 04, Osaka
2023  RECORDS and FOODS, sando sand stand, Kotohira
2022  Transformation +, Marugame
2021  Transformation, Marugame
2006  isolation: independence, STREET GALLERY, Kobe
2005  marikoaoki solo exhibition 2005, Gallery Space ○△□, Kyoto

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025  Ryuto, Seto and Setouchi, FabCafe Nagoya, Aichi
2025  Phantom Museum Shop, Okayama
2024  Phantom Museum Shop, Okayama
2023  Phantom Museum Shop, Okayama
2023  RECORD LOVER, ORAB RECORD, Okayama
2008  Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, Agora Gallery, New York
2006  The Shape of Men, The Shape of Women, Kyoto
2006  Survival Age, Osaka
2005  Diversity of Artists Exhibition, Osaka
2004  LOVE LETTER, Kyoto

Projects & Workshops

2025  Workshop, CONNECT Okayama Showroom
2024  Workshop, Higashiyama Kaii Childrens Art Museum, Kagawa
2013–  Craft and art workshops (adults and children), Kagawa
2013–  Large-scale childrens art projects, Kagawa
2020–  Paper art workshops, Kagawa

Public Collections / Commissions

2022  KUKAI RECORD (Kukai 1250th Anniversary Project), Zentsuji City Hall, Kagawa

Professional Experience

2022–  Art Facilitator (Geijutsushi), NPO Archipelago, Japan