Yuzuru Maeda is born in Japan in 1978. She had received a Music BA from the LaSalle Collage of Arts, Singapore in 2009 and currently lives in Singapore. In her daily musical practice, she produces soundtracks, jingles and music compositions for independent films, commercials and her own video works. She performs mainly with the Sanshin (Japanese), Sarod (Indian) and Violin (Classical) with electronic sound compositions. Her musical lineage is La Monte Young and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. She explores music and sound in cross cultural contexts and her musical works are described as ‘Beyond time and space’ which experess about divine energy and spirituality.
Besides her musical practices, Yuzuru Maeda has been making video-based works under the title of Zentai Art Project. These video works are visual explorations that are extended from her practice as a contemporary musician. In Zentai Art Project, the artist uses the ‘Zentai’ sub-culture to investigate into the human conditions of identity, spiritual connections with cosmic energy in the universe and as a means to come to terms with one’s living environment.
Artist statement
I am a musician playing Indian classical instrument Sarod. I play my own improvisation using Indian scale on the Sarod. For me, I take the instrument as a medium to connect to a higher sphere and play with inspiration of the melody that I hear within myself. So I practice the instrument to keep myself technically fit to follow the inspiration.
In my Zentai Art Project video works, I am trying visualise my inspirations and expressing it in the video frames. My generic theme for the project is about ‘Who am I’ and ‘What is the truth and reality’ in life. I think these answers are beyond what words can explain and I hope to come closer to it through the series of Zentai Art videos.
