Mayumi Enoki is a Japanese artist and printmaker originally from Hiroshima but now living in Okayama. Since studying printmaking in the 1980s, she has been working mainly in this area, especially using etching techniques. Her work focuses on the "unpredictability" of phenomena latent in daily life through exploring the possibilities of different materials. Through the process of printmaking, she feels that transformations in materials evoke the impermanence and randomness of life. From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, she was also involved in teaching visual arts, printmaking and graphic design at universities and colleges in Japan.
"In the "Binding and String" series, my metal-binding technique is inspired by a Japanese dyeing method, in which string prevents corrosion on a metal plate. My metal-binding process shows how a plate is corroded over time. A plate treated by this approach is so fragile that it can only create a couple of prints. Each print has slightly different details, thus generating a Variable Edition. I produce artist original limited edition prints.
I have recently started to use the chine-collé technique with metal leaf, inspired by the Japanese tradition of visible mending of pottery with gold. Through this technique, I explore the concept of accepting and caring for the irreversible scars of our everyday existence and how these scars transform us in some way.
My work explores hidden phenomena in our day-to-day activities, in which a certain atmosphere is filled with invisible smells and hidden meanings. I think a print reflects not only an image of the plate but also what happens on the plate during corrosion and the process of printing. This transformation of materials only happens once and cannot be reversed or reproduced. I have become very interested in this unpredictability which resonates with my view that our lives are full of signs of impermanence and chance elements. I would say that such concepts are characteristic of Japanese culture and ideas of beauty. Through my work, I realize that infinite relationships bound together create existence itself."