The mysteries of the highest heavens and the deepest seas are playgrounds for the fertile imaginings of Tami Ichino. Working across the disciplines in painting, sculpture and animation video, Ichino is fascinated by the ambiguity that accompanies attempts to ‘read’ deep space and the darkest recesses of the ocean. Unfettered by the laws of gravity, objects float and bob in space in a manner not unlike the animal and plant life that inhabits the sea, and Ichino is acutely aware that without the reassurance of gravity’s rules, the viewer has an almost impossible task on his or her hands to determine what is top, and what is bottom. Ichino’s paintings develop one fine layer of inky wash at a time, drawing the viewer into an almost imperceptible centre that wraps around him or her like a fine, enveloping mist. Expelled from the depths of these dark expanses are strange, bisected meteor-like sculptures, which when upturned reveal the shimmering iridescence of crystalline forms.

Jane Neal / 2007

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