SINCE THE MID-20TH CENTURY, THE BURST OF JAPAN'S BUBBLE ECONOMY AND POST-WAR URBANIZATION HAVE PRODUCED ISSUES AS DIVERSE AS POLLUTION AND SOCIAL ALIENATION. THE GENERATION THAT GREW UP IN THE 1980'S WITNESSED THIS PERIOD OF IMMENSE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE. SIMULTANEOUSLY, ART IN JAPAN HAS EVOLVED TO ITS PRESENT STATE OF DIRECT REFLECTION OF ANXIETY, DISORIENTATION AND HELPLESSNESS, BROUGHT ABOUT BY SOCIAL PRESSURES.



IN ALL FOUR WORKS, UTOPIA 0 CHOME (LOT 726), K.A.M.I.S.A.M.A (LOT 726), STOMACH (LOT 725) AND ROLL SCREEN (LOT 725), SIMILAR-LOOKING, YOUNG, UNIFORMED GIRLS, IMPERSONATING THE ARTIST HERSELF ARE DEPICTED IN VARIOUS SCENES. THE INITIAL PLEASANT NOTION OF INNOCENT PLAY AND FANTASY, INTRINSIC TO THE PICTORIAL FORMATION OF KATO'S WORKS, STANDS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO THE GIRL'S INTROVERTED EXPRESSIONS OF MELANCHOLY AND DISAPPOINTMENT, AS WELL AS THE CHIMNEYS, RELEASING PATCHES OF BLUE AND GREY COLORED FUMES THAT ARE INFUSED INTO THE GIRLS.



WHILE THE PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY LETHAL CONSEQUENCES OF JAPAN'S INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT ARE A THEME IN ALL FOUR WORKS, IT IS ESPECIALLY STOMACH AND THE MIXED MEDIA WORK ROLL SCREEN THAT USE BLUNT AND UNVARNISHED IMAGERY TO PORTRAY THE EFFECTS OF SUCH ENVIRONMENTS.



KATO IS HONEST AND CONFRONTATIONAL IN HER STYLE AND SUBJECT MATTER, HER WORKS, COME TOGETHER AS A SYMBOL OF HER GENERATION'S STRAINED PSYCHE AND COLLECTIVE OUTCRY.