Invitation to an Image by Mika Horibuchi

Invitation to an Image represents the anatomy of a drawing, containing the tools and components necessary for the creation of form or figure. Each edition, housed in a hand-made linen box, holds a unique marker drawing, three rubber stamps, a notebook, an ink pad, a graphite drawing tool, and a ceramic paper-crane posing as a brush rest.

The drawing, rendered using markers in shades of grey, is displayed in the manner of a photograph, held with triangular photo corners and mounted to an adjustable display that unfolds from the interior of the box. Similar to her paintings in oil, each unique drawing imitates the same photograph of a watercolor of a landscape, as painted by her 84 year-old grandmother, Sayoko Yokoyama. Recreating the form and style of the original object it replaces, the drawings stand as distinct examinations in their continued imitation; what was meant to mimic becomes mimicked.

The interior of the box contains tools of creation and replication. Specifically, the stamps hold forms that are representations of representations - a line drawing of a cluster of rocks; a sketch of the 1659 Dutch still life painting titled Trompe-l’Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain, by Adriaen van der Spelt and Frans van Mieris; and a replication of the rabbit duck illusion that first appeared in an 1892 issue of the German humor magazine, Fliegende Blätter. In this classic optical trick, a duck or a rabbit can be seen, but never both at the same time. The text asks: “Which animals are the most like each other?,” and answers, “Rabbit and duck.” As the stamps promise a uniform mark, one that can be repeated indefinitely, graphite and an empty notebook creates a space for the use of these tools and unique mark making.

Mika Horibuchi encourages the viewer to not only engage with what they see and how they see it, but provides a platform for play, creation, and experimentation. It is both a narrative and an invitation.