I am Atsuko Mu Yuma, a m ultimedia artist whose work is inspired by the harmonic waves of love, the vast universal force, the mystery of life and death and ancient mythology.”
It’s not often that a visual artist can succinctly explain the essence of their work, but Yuma can! You read that one line, look at her work and you understand. Her paintings are dominated by mystical figures, animals and flowers, in bright, warm colors, soft, all cocooned in misty ethereal swaths. Many of these also form part of her sculptural multi-media works and performance art.
The ancient mythology that she mentions is inspired by her interest in the Jōmon period of Japan, a prehistoric Japanese culture that existed for over 10,000 years, starting shortly after the end of the Ice Age approximately 13,000 BCE. The term Jōmon is translated as “rope patterned.” This term was used to describe this culture because of their prolific pottery (enough to be on a near industrial scale) that was embossed with rope or chords. Yuma traces her lineage to these people and consequently, feels drawn to using rope in her mixed media artwork.
Although 10,000 years is a very long time, there has been no evidence of battles or wars, no walled settlements with defenses, few weapons and no mass graves associated with the Jōmon people. They were considered hunter-gathers at a time when Japan was benefitting from a warming climate with abundant flora and fauna. There was no need for fighting over scarce resources, resulting in one of the most peaceful periods in Japanese history. Yuma channels this historically long peace as a foundational part of her art.
The Jōmon people lived in close proximity to and were reliant on nature, resulting in animism, the belief that animals, plants and nature had souls and supernatural powers. As time went by, shamanism became practiced, providing a link between humans and gods, and later evolved into Shinto which is one of Japan’s largest religions today. It is this spirituality and deep appreciation of nature that further infuses Yuma’s concepts.
Yuma was born and educated in Japan but enticed by the sounds of jazz, she came to New York in the late 1960s and has lived there since. She is very cognizant of living in a global age with its many benefits but also the drawbacks of losing the anchoring effects of national identities. Although the Jōmon people provide her foundation, she is also curious about other great ancient civilizations, reminding us that much can be learnt from history and those who have gone before us.
Her mixed media works incorporate Japanese cloths, both old and new, as well as her own hand-dyed cloth ropes. She also uses found wood to ensure a connection with nature, working to impart warmth and hope. These materials are integrated with Yuma’s life experiences as a single mother and her efforts to succeed as a full-time artist. Despite life’s challenges, her strength and extraordinary positivity, blessed with a confidence that the Jōmon gods have charged her with a mission to help bring peace to the world through her art, motivates her to continue to create.
All of Yuma’s visual art and motivation are then combined to inspire her performance art. Her mixed media installations, paintings, costumes and masks are brought to life with her spoken word, dance, music and singing. Her performances started at the same time that the Fluxus movement was flourishing in New York, Germany and Japan; started by George Maciunas and centered around composer John Cage, with many artists of the period, such as Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik and Yoko Ono amongst the collaborators. Although Fluxus (derived from the Latin word for flowing) had no unifying style or manifesto, Maciunas said the purpose of the movement was to “promote a revolutionary flood and tide in art, promote living art, anti-art.”
Yuma’s performances may have started at the same time as Fluxus, but her work is less revolution and more spirituality; more enhancement of the beauty of nature than anything that can be described as anti-art. She does however promote living art, drawing on her life experiences, and channeling universal energy and wisdom to inspire her creativity.
At a time when there is so much antagonism, division and fear, Atsuko Mu Yuma’s work stands strong in delivering beauty, spirituality and positivity all working towards her goal of encouraging peace. G&S
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