Maiko Jinushi
Intimacies and Distances
Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art 

“Intimacy” and “distance” are oppositional concepts often used to map and define the relationship between oneself and others. For Tokyo-based interdisciplinary artist Maiko Jinushi’s first solo exhibition in Canada, she explored relationships with others through dialogue and collaborative performances. And by utilizing a wide range of media, Jinushi created works as a “visual form of literary experience,” with four recent video installations and preliminary drawings. 

The exhibition opened with fuchsia text on a single-screen projection. Jinushi could be heard reciting the lines of contemplative free verse poetry from the short multimedia work Lip Wrap / Air Hug / Energy Exchange (2020). Using elements of recitation, simple animation techniques, and stark self-portraits and drawings, this work reflected the emotional state of those reluctant to experience direct physical contact yet still desiring intimate connection with others. In a story of loneliness and isolation, Jinushi yearns for a connection as intimate as sex but “less physical, more sanitary, much safer.” Based on her 2018 poem written before the pandemic as a near-future imagining of human connection (or lack thereof) in the digital era, Jinushi had no idea just how relevant, two years later, ideas like condoms for kissing or the communicative power of receiving a virtual sticker of cute animals hugging would become in our society.