b. 1999, Honolulu; lives and works in Pearl City, Hawaiʻi
chrysanthemum play 2021 Ceramic 11 x 12 x 11 in
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Dane Nakama is a Japanese-Uchinanchu ceramicist and painter based on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Through a nostalgic and whimsical style, Nakama addresses subjects of cultural hybridity, settler colonialism, and ancestral knowledge, playing with the multicultural lexicon of their upbringing.
Nakama’s series Boi Color — which was exhibited at Hawaiʻi State Art Museum — addresses the lesser-known history of gay sex and third gender, wakashu, of premodern Japan. Having previously considered their own queer identity as separate from their Japanese heritage, Nakama reintroduces themselves and others to sexually fluid aspects of Japanese history through their witty and promiscuous ceramic pots. With titles that are translations of medieval Japanese sex positions to ukiyo-e masturbation diagrams juxtaposed next to Sailor Moon memes, these pots allow queer individuals to see themselves in relationship to the iconography of the past.
The present work chrysanthemum play, a translation of the term “kiku asobi,” was often used to describe anal play in premodern Japanese literature. The work has a yakuza tattoo pattern of a dragon tightly wrapped around an eggplant and a tiger biting a peach — a subtle nod to how queer culture, like tattooing, has become a taboo subject in modern Japan. The pot takes on a fleshy, torso-like appearance with bondage ties, or shibari, wrapped and constricting the form. The piece is also accented by pages of BL (boy love) manga tied in a fashion that references Shinto wish tags on the shibari chords and a manga-inspired omamori hanging from its flower arrangement — referencing the semi-religious origins of male-on-male sexual practices.
Nakama received a BFA from California Institute of the Arts and is a projected to be a UCLA MFA candidate. They have participated in numerous group shows and featured in solo exhibitions in Hawaiʻi, Los Angeles, Miami, and Tokyo.
“Art is a language like anything else, and what good is a language if not to share in conversation?”
“When I was younger, I fell in love with art through the ‘university of YouTube.’ I aspired for the exciting and inspiring world of art beyond the shores of the Islands I called home — because contemporary art wasn’t something that happened in Hawaiʻi. In art classes and museums, we learned about artists who changed history, but they were never from our Islands. Younger me grew up undervaluing the stories of my upbringing, thinking that I had little to offer in the global conversations of art. Hawaiʻi Contemporary proves younger me wrong.
Hawaiʻi Contemporary makes space for questioning and inspiring through the unique lens of Island culture — as well as creates space for the wider public and population of the Hawaiian Islands to understand the value of their own stories. The organization may help younger generations of artists to see themselves, not as side characters in the story of art but, rather, as protagonists to their own radical identities.”
All artworks ship from Honolulu. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer. Applicable sales tax will apply to all works shipped within Hawaiʻi. Please note, bidders will be charged for the total purchase price; 3% processing fee, 2.9% credit card transaction fee, plus $0.30 per transaction, if applicable; and any sales tax, based on your registration address. For transactions over $10,000, you will be given the option to pay via wire transfer. Please direct inquiries to events@hawaiicontemporary.org.
chrysanthemum play | Dane Nakama
Item #116
$2,000- 2 bids
Sold Out!
Minimum Bid Increment:
$250
Value:
$1,600
Available:
May 12, 2023 @ 08:00am - May 28, 2023 @ 05:00pm HST
Donated By:
Proceeds benefit the artist and Hawaiʻi Contemporary
