CHOTTO MOTTO:

An Exhibition of New Works by Sleepless Kao At Blim, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Opening: Friday, December 2nd. 8:00pm -11:00pm
Show Runs December 2 – 29,  2011

Little creatures pop out of Kao’s brain around midnight and tell her, “more, more…”. They demand more room, so she puts them onto large canvases. Other creatures do not stop moving, so she makes a short animation of them. Come to BLIM to see Kao’s work

Enjoy chotto mottoholiday gifts by Kao, including prints, dolls, lucky-charms, and a little more

“A single chotto means little, but Japanese often say “chotto, chotto” which asks for someone’s attention, like “hey you!” Motto means more, and we often say “motto motto” meaning “yes, yes, more please”. If I was telling a story and I paused, you might say “motto motto”, asking me to continue with my story. Chotto motto together is an odd combination because they are opposites; I like the feeling of this odd pairing. There is a cultural difference between Japan and Canada which I still struggle with. Some aspects of traditional Japanese culture are passive-aggressive by Western standards, but they come from a pure/good intention. Japanese do not like to expose aggression, so we calmly speak in an indirect fashion. In relation to my show, I am saying in a polite way, “here I am, look what I have done”, but I am trying to be modest at the same time”

-from Interviewed by The Province