Moving Towards Gesture
From the early 2000s, Asai found herself becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the photographic realist style. While continuing to follow through on ideas conceived much earlier, such as Metro Theatre Engine Room 2003 (see History 1987-2007 for the image) she began making drawings like Spike 2003 (opposite).
This new way of working can be traced back to drawings done in 1994 such as 9 Columns (below left), mono-prints created at the MacGregor Summer School in 1979 and early experiences of automatic drawing during the 1970s with local artist and teacher Irene Amos (1927-2012).
As the decade progressed, a freer, gestural element began to appear, even in representational subjects such as Winter Evening 2005 (below right).
