CCW260322

"To melt and manipulate paint that has already hardened."

The CCW series by Mika Ieda is a conceptual body of work exploring the theme of "time"—an inescapable force we can never defy. The series title, CCW, stands for "Counter-Clockwise."

Typically, in the process of painting, paint dries and hardens, following a one-way progression of time. However, by employing the unique process of deliberately "melting and manipulating" acrylic paint that has already set, Ieda attempts to reverse this otherwise irreversible flow. Like pinning down a moment in the stream of time, she seeks to capture the "now" as a preserved specimen on the canvas.

A particularly noteworthy element of this work is the English tongue twister inscribed on the surface: "I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch."

Here, the "wristwatch" serves as a device to measure time, while the act of "washing" links directly to Ieda's physical process of melting the paint. This humorous play on words functions not merely as a textual quotation, but as a profound metaphor that strikes at the core of the series: "deconstructing and mobilizing time." By manifesting the paradox of "washing a watch" (i.e., melting paint to reverse time) on the canvas, the artwork presents the viewer with a quiet, eternally suspended moment.

Brilliantly visualizing the invisible concept of "time" through the fluidity of material paint and text, this piece proposes a new relationship between "time and matter" in contemporary painting. (Miaki Gallery)