Tokyo Eyes: Sequel by Tomoko Suzuki

Tokyo Eyes: Sequel is a collection of 45 photographs taken by Tomoko Suzuki over the last seven years.

Tomoko Suzuki’s spatial awareness and attention to detail in her photographs strongly reflect the aesthetic influence of her family background in the art of the Japanese tea ceremony. Her work concentrates on the colours and details in nature, capturing images of Japanese Tea Gardens and English Gardens that push its audience to look beyond the obvious.

Reflecting on her work, Ms Suzuki has said,

“The eminent critic Hideo Kobayashi wrote that we tend to stop seeing the beauty of flowers once we identify the name of the plant, and for similar reasons I do not use the name of the plants or the locations of the photographs as titles of my works; instead I name them by traditional Japanese colours. I would like to encourage the viewer to see my photographs from their heart, and to enjoy the diversity of colours and shapes that the natural world offers us.”

Tokyo Eyes: Sequel is a follow-up to Tomoko’s April 2000 exhibition at Daiwa Foundation Japan House, Tokyo Eyes: Cornwall’s Gardens and is adapted from Tomoko’s recent Tokyo show, Colour Harmony: from an English garden to a Japanese tea garden.

Tokyo Eyes: Sequel is part of the Year of Gardening 2004, celebrating the bicentenary of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Tomoko Suzuki was born in Tokyo. She completed her BA at Aoyama Gakuin University in 1984 and subsequently worked as a librarian, and a freelance graphic designer. Inspired by the Anglo-Japanese friendships of Bernard Leach, Soetsu Yanagi and Shoji Hamada, she moved to Cornwall in 1997 and took up a degree at the Falmouth College of Arts. Upon completion of her MA she had her first Solo Exhibition “Water’s Edge”, which was followed by a series of exhibitions in the UK. In December 2003 she had her first major solo show in Japan at the Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Tokyo.