OnebyOne [home] Gallery is opening its doors to proudly present ‘In Search of Active Frog. Day in the life of an ordinary tide pool’, a collaborative project by Japanese artist Junko Shimizu and Janet Kim that results in a site specific installation of soft sculptures.

April 17th is Junko’s birthday and for this occasion she has teamed up with Janet, whose birthday is a day later, to put together an installation of secrets sea creatures: “The secret under water world became visible after Active Frog died and flushed down in a toilet.” (Junko Shimizu). [http://junkojunko.com]

When Junko Shimizu was about 17 years old she felt an urge not to go on the path that was secretly laid out but to get out. At age 19, she moved to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts and earned a BFA in illustration. After graduating in 2003, she became a painting assistant for Takashi Murakami. She had solo exhibitions in Chelsea and Brooklyn, New York, and showed in several group shows within the US. Inspired from music and literature, her recent work has been not limited to paintings and drawings but involving installation to create her world more vividly.

Graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 2008 as a Fine Arts Sculpture major, Janet Kim moved quickly into film and animation, working on everything from commercials to feature films. Naturally adept in design and construction, she was fortunate enough to work as the production designer of the 2010 academy award winning short, The New Tenants. Drawing from nature, food, humor, and folklore, her personal work proves to be her most inspired, as she ventures into different materials, media, and animation as a way to capture her world. [www.thepaperghosts.com]