DeVarco and Nakamura met in Japan in 2013.  After exchanging pieces, the two decided to work on a series that would engage each of their unique styles of photography and painting. “Gathering Kokoro” will feature a selection from the artists’ latest series of collaborative works.  “Kokoro” is naturally understood in Japanese culture, but there is no direct translation in English. Conceptually, kokoro unites the notions of the physical heart, the intellectual mind, and the ephemeral, indomitable spirit and sees these three elements as being indivisible from one other. This exhibition will feature unique aspects of each artists’ chosen mediums including paintings from Nakamura’s "The Playground" series presented as an Emaki scroll and their latest collaborative works on paper from the "Figure|Ground" series.

In addition, "Gathering Kokoro" will include an Orihon Book which is presented in conjunction with the FotoFocus Biennial 2018: Open Archive.  Recasting digital photos, photomontage and ink sketches into an elegant artifact, this collaborative artwork is created in the ancient style of an ‘Orihon’ book (‘ori' means fold and 'hon' means book’). As both art and artifact, the Orihon Book is a unique specimen for the digital age and carries with it the spirit of the 2018 FotoFocus theme, Open Archive, which “examines our fundamental need to preserve photographs and to tell stories through their collection, organization, and interpretation”.  Paying homage to the ancient Asian tradition of bookmaking as a “folding scroll”, this object measures 8 feet long when fully displayed.  Printed in Japanese on one side and English on the other, its pages open up concertina style and feature a series of Tony DeVarco’s photographs that capture the age-old ritual of Mayako donning her kimono and Mayako Nakamura’s atmospheric ink studies printed on fine mulberry paper.

Archivist and curator Bonnie DeVarco designed the interior of the book to present an unfolding ‘story’ in the Japanese style of Orihon with folds sewn with 24 karat gold thread using the "stabbed” binding technique. As an object both vintage and familiar, the book’s covers and case are designed and bound by master bookmaker and Cincinnati artist Judith Serling-Sturm.