Yuko Nasaka

Around 1962, Kazuo Shiraga, Senkichiro's classmate at the Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting, now known as Kyoto City University of Arts, and an eventual member of the avant-garde Gutai group, inspired Nasaka to submit her art to the 15th Ashiya City Exhibition in 1962. Simultaneously, the exhibition also commemorated the opening of the Gutai Pinacotheca. Ashiya City is where the Gutai group held their first groundbreaking show: "Experimental Outdoor Modern Art Exhibition to challenge the Midsummer Burning Sun".^{[citation needed]} Nasaka eventually won the Ashiya Mayor's Prize, and showed her work at the Ashiya City Exhibition two more times. Shortly after Nasaka submitted her works to the exhibition, Nasaka met Jiro Yoshihara, the co-founder and leader of the Gutai group.

Nasaka was first involved with the Gutai group in 1962 at the Gutai Pinacotheca, which is an exhibition space in Nakanoshima, Osaka. Gutai artists have regularly exhibited their work in this space. Eventually, Nasaka became officially admitted to Gutai in 1963, alongside Takesada Matsutani. Jiro Yoshihara vouched for Nasaka to other Gutai members to join.

Nasaka said about her Gutai initiation:

Everyone fell silent, but he (Yoshihara) repeated his question three times and everyone clapped their hands. At first there wasn't a sound.^[2]

Nasaka was admitted as a Phase Two Gutai artist (19562-1972). While Phase One, Gutai artists (1954–62) focused on responding to the postwar period in Japan, and engaging with direct materials to critique wartime militarism. Alternatively, Phase Two Gutai artists were more solicitous about Japan's burgeoning economic and technological growth. The Phase Two artists employed materials and techniques including advanced technology that were germane to the theme of industrialism.^[3] Nasaka gained sizable recognition after winning the Ashiya Mayor's Prize in 1962. In 1964, Nasaka put on a solo show at the Gutai Pinacotheca, in which she expanded her work to a larger school by completely covering an entire wall with a grid of proliferating concentric circles.^[4] Nasaka was featured in the April 1965 Issue of Art International, was asked to be a judge for the Ibaraki exhibition, and showed her work in the Female Artists' Association exhibition. Nasaka went on a hiatus and did not create art for two decades. However, in the 2000s she began creating artwork again, and held solo exhibitions in 2014 in Tokyo, and in 2015 in Antwerp, Belgium.^[5]

Nasaka's later body of work featured concentric circles manifested through reliefs. She grounded her practices through technological experimentation and used innovative industrial materials for her time. Nasaka's process involved the use of a rotating plate, a tool that was handmade for her. The tool resembles an electric pottery wheel combined with a turntable.^[6] She then used resin cement to create circular patterns, and then airbrushes the circles with resin and lacquer.^[7] No panel is the same, as each piece denotes a different sphere, color or texture. Ultimately, Nasaka places each panel side by side, and fits them into a grid like formation, expanding the grid so fully that it covers an entire wall akin to that of a mural. The expansion of concentric circles creates an effect of infinite space. Nasaka achieves the effect of four-dimensional space through her concentric circle constructions of varying heights, layering, depths, and textures. Her methods of using non-art materials adhere to Gutai's ethos of experimenting with technologically advanced materials and techniques.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, Nasaka's piece Work (1960) was featured in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's exhibit: Gutai: Splendid Playground. Work (1960) is from Nasaka's concentric circle series, and exemplifies Naska's concern for the relationship between industrialization and humanity. She juxtaposed these ironic notions together to question the direction of humanity, particularly given the circumstances of burgeoning industry and technology.^[6]

Nasaka used square wooden panels for the bases, and then coated them with a material that is composed of plaster, glue and clay. While malleable, Nasaka treated the surface with the turntable tool—which resulted in the centrifugal compositions. Nasaka carved delicate patterns onto the surface and then sprayed car lacquer as the final touch. From a distance, the amalgamated panels resemble sonographic screens of photographs of the Moon's surface.^[8] Yet, when examined closely, one can see Nasaka's touch. Her intricate carvings demonstrate a sense of unpredictability and betray the illusion of machine-like perfection from afar.^[3]