Katsuko Ishigaki was born on the island of Ishigaki, in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, and now lives in the mainland capital of Naha. Her studio is an hour’s drive north, in Okinawa City. The artist’s daily commute is skirted almost entirely by security fencing bordering the major US air bases that take up approximately 25 per cent of the Okinawan mainland. This landscape has given rise to Ishigaki’s new vividly coloured paintings documenting the imposition of military installations — both Japanese and American — on the picturesque landscapes of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

View from Kakazutakadai Park VI 2023–24 and View from Banna Park 2024 are drawn from a suite of land and cityscapes — created for the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial — that take in the areas surrounding the United States’ Futenma airbase, as well as the artist’s home island of Ishigaki. Futenma occupies much of the densely populated municipality of Ginowan, just north of Naha, and for many years been the focus of civilian resentment toward the presence of military forces in Okinawa. Its much-delayed relocation has also been controversial, as new sites proposed by American and Japanese authorities — especially the reclamation of Henoko-Oura Bay — meet strong opposition from local activists and political leaders. In her work, Ishigaki also documents the recent establishment of a new base for Japan’s Self Defence Forces on Ishigaki, whose construction, she notes, is ongoing.