the landscape 311
Miriam Cahn
Born in Basel, Switzerland, 1949. Lives and works in Basel and Bergell (GR), Switzerland. Miriam Cahn was part of the generation that, at a young age, witnessed the footage of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll; influenced by the further historical context of the scientists–predominantly Jewish, like Cahn–who both invented the atom bomb and opposed its use. Cahn has repeatedly painted watercolors taking the discord between the beauty and the ethics of the atom bomb as their theme. Her oil paintings, on the other hand, include a number of themes, such as humans, plants and animals, and architecture, each of which is explored individually. In her images of humans, in particular, people are at times painted in vibrant colors standing motionless against dusky toned landscapes. Cahn’s paintings, which lack the clear, explicit lines used to bring out individual beings, might be understood as hinting toward harmonization or fusion, rather than strict boundaries. They confront their viewers, however, with a cold, salvationless world, questioning the nature of humans under the difficult situations in this era of uncertainty.
Shizuka Yokomizo
1966 Born in Tokyo; currently residing in London. After moving to Britain in 1989 and earning a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Yokomizo continued her artwork with a focus on photography and video. Among her productions are photographic works that structurally incorporate the action of “seeing,” and videos on the topics of time and the body. In recent years she has been investigating the relationship between images and people.