Drawing on Kyōgen: Art Interludes

Some students decided to explore kyōgen through visual art projects that were featured as short interludes between the plays of the Remotely Kyōgen program. Please take your time enjoying the pieces below.

Noh-Kennedy Stage

Artist: Audrey Castañeda Walker
Medium: Photoshop

A traditional nogaku stage extends off the inland side of the Kennedy theatre
Inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, the piece is an imaginative adaptation of our home, Kennedy Theatre, with an outdoor noh stage.

Flowing Sake

Artist: Ethan Castillo
Medium: Photoshop

A person with a white top and flowing blue hakama-like pants performs the kyogen drinking kata with a fan that has sake flowing from it.
Kata are not just codified movements, but the portrayal of the imagination of the actors.

Arising, Ravel, Fleeting

Artist: Iana Weingrad
Medium: Charcoal

Jo-ha-kyū (序破急) is a convention of movement applied in Japanese arts as a dramatic structure, roughly translating to “beginning-break-rapid.” This series depicts the three concepts of jo-ha-kyū represented in nature.

A charcoal sketch of rolling hills with a chain-link fence and a tree in the foreground
Arising
A charcoal sketch of an upward view of the stretching branches of a tree
Ravel
A charcoal sketch of a volcano stretching up from the ocean into a clouds above.
Fleeting

Hotel ALOHA

Artist: Audrey Castañeda Walker
Medium: Photoshop

A cross-section illustration of a hotel with unmasked tourists on the upperlevels and masked, uniformed hotel workers on the lowest level.
Based on the classic master servant relationship often portrayed in kyōgen pieces, this image takes the yobidashi convention (when a master calls a servant) in a place very familiar to many of us, the hotel industry.

Leonard’s at the beach and a malasada sun

Artist: Jake Wolf
Medium: Mixed media

A painting of waves washing up to Leonard's Bakery in Honolulu with a golden sun and a shark in a blue sky.
Mixed media inspired by the work of Yamamoto Tarō.

Spam musubi∼∼does this make you hungry?

Artist: Jake Wolf
Medium: Mixed media

A spam musubi wrapped in a kyogen-inspired patterned seaweed on a gold background flanked by pink and blue hibiscus flowers
Real spam wrapped in a kyōgen seaweed cloth with gold Hawaiian print background.

Tūtū’s send off

Artist: Audrey Castañeda Walker
Medium: Photoshop

Inspired by the “chase off endings” as well as wood block prints, this piece depicts some items that Tūtū may wish to chase away in 2020/2021.

An old lady throws a mask at a girl with blonde hair, a red t-shirt, shorts, and a sun hat who is running away
Tūtū’s send off: Tourist
An old lady throws a slipper at a Corona virus with legs
Tūtū’s send off: Corona Virus
An old lady throws a vaccine and a calendar at at the year 2020 that has legs and is running away
Tūtū’s send off: 2020