Elizabeth Roth

2003 Kamiyama Artist in Residence Participant
In Kamiyama from September 23 to November 18, 2003

Liz Roth was born in New York CIty. She received her BA from Smith College, and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her works have been acquired by many collections, inclusing the Walker Museum of Art and the Museu del Joguet in Spain. Roth depicts social concerns in a humourous way, and she continued her signature style with Pink adn Green: 36 Views of Kamiyama. In this painting installation, Roth paired tiny, commodity-sized landscape paintings with a mural-sized painting of an actual commodity (a Hello Kitty toy). "I like to draw attention to environmental issues by giving the viewer a smile. Too often, political art depresses me, just when I need encouragement. In Pink and Green, I'Ve tried to remind people, with humor, to pay more attention to their surroundings, and to quit creating landfill."(→ Elizabeth Roth website)

After-hours class with Jinryo Elementary School students

Pink and Green: 36 Views of Kamiyama

Elizabeth Roth “Pink & Green: 36 Views of Kamiyama” 2003

 

Kamiyama has two treasures, everyday life of the people and nature.
Liz did not overlook these things,
but revealed the real mystery that lies hidden between the two.
Set in the Jinryo community centre is a gallery installation with two contrasting features.
There is an enormous painting of a toy "Hello Kitty" mobile phone.
Why? Because it is a symbol of modern life. After all,
it has always been daily commodities that appeal to ordinary people.
The 36 views of Kamiyama, miniature paintings of tray landscapes,
look very alluring and pretty,
with the number referring to Hokusai's 36 views of Mt. Fuji.
She brilliantly captured Japan's "culture of space."
(Musashino Art University Professor Ryu Niimi)