Interview with Rin Ioka over Skype tele-call. Through limited comprehension of English and Japanese languages and checking out her blog site at the same time, Catherine and Rin managed to complete this conversation and came to appreciate each other’s style and works in the process.

Catherine: Tell us how you come to know this project.

Rin: It went way back to 2007 where I met Kelvin in Tokyo during one of my exhibitions, Recycle Garden. One year later, we collaborated on a similar project entitled Mobile Garden in Singapore through his invitation. This time round, when he mentioned this exhibition he intended to do, Eat With Family, where it centered on the theme of family bonding, I jumped at this opportunity.

C: Right… how about sharing a little on your background before we continue…

R: Okie. I’m based in Tokyo where I teach little children between the ages of 4 to 12.  (“So do you only teach Arts?”) Oh! I teach on a variety of subjects like Japanese language, mathematics and arts… There’s a gallery that belongs to my school and I would display my art works there. (“What kind of art works do you dabble in usually?”) Hmm… I do all kinds of arts like origami and collage… I like to play with materials and for this piece, I’m experimenting with felt cloth. And oh yes, I like to take photographs too (a string of laughter). No, I don’t use DSLR. I used to when I had my dad’s old manual camera but it broke down. Now, I just use a Nikon. (“Your photographs are colorful!”- a pearl string of laughter broke out again) Yah, I like colors too. (“Any tendency towards a particular hue?”) No… I like the complexity of colors and how they interplay with one another.  I like to write too so I would incorporate some poems or writings in my art works at times (you can see this in her piece for this exhibition).

I’m interested in relationships…

C: This brings to the next question. What makes you interested in this exhibition?

R: I’m interested in relationship between parents and their children. You know, it’s like people would come home late and then spend most of their time in front of the television. They should just turn off the TV! (Another string of crystal-like laughter broke out. Now, both of us were at the web page where it displayed some of the works she’ would showcase for the exhibition).

C: (Of course, this brings us to the next question yet again) Q: Tell us more about your artwork for this upcoming exhibition.

R: This piece is titled “Turn off the lights, let’s talk”. This is basically expressing the desire to switch off all distractions and to create an opportunity for parents to talk to the children.  In Japan, parents and even children come home late because of other activities (it seems to be a common disease in Asia cities). And this theme has been on my mind… (“Oh! So by the way, is your food related to food in any way?” Hmm… no… not for my piece here. When I heard the title of this exhibition, this was the message that I have… Haha… (You should know by now, that I love to hear the clear laughter from this sweet girl).

C: So, tell us about your relationship with arts and where/how do you find your inspirations usually?

R: I’ve been doing arts since young and I just find it so… hmm… how do I put it? It gives life! (Another string of laughter).  And teaching children is inspiring for me too. I find them very creative and they stimulate my imagination. That’s why I’ve been teaching for the past ten years (laughs again).  That’s why I use katakana (footnote: one of the Japanese language writing system) in my work, as well as bright colors because kids can understand katakana (more than kanji) and they like colors (footnote: kanji is the most difficult writing system in the Japanese language). And I sing too… (by now, she has directed me to her blog site showcasing her band- Karinba). We sing like once a week and I will write the lyrics (“Oh wow! So you don’t sing covers but your own creations!!” Truly impressed by now. She’s really multi-talented!). You can see that my work has a lot to do with relationships which are an inspiration to me. I like to explore family relationship, mother-child relationship, friendship… sometimes on romantic relationship but not usually (laughter trails off…)