sakamoto 
Born in 1954 in Yokohama, Yamagata Makiko is a housewife who paints in her rural studio about an hour and a half north of Sendai City, Miyagi prefecture. She moved here after getting married. Her village of Tsuyama, population 3,000, is situated on the banks of the Kitakami River on the outskirts of the historic town of Tome, also known as the ‘Meiji-Village of Miyagi.’
I started painting about 15 years ago at a culture class in Ishinomaki. I had started to wonder what was my purpose in existing every day (laughs). My teacher told me there are good good pictures; good bad pictures; bad good pictures; and bad bad pictures; and that I should aim for bad good pictures.
In the beginning, I painted things like vases, but I shifted to portraits. I had never sketched, but I wanted to draw people. However I have always liked cows, and seven or eight years ago I started combining cows with people. It occurred to me I was using cows as substitutes for men. Perhaps I thought that if I depicted actual relationships between women and men, it would be too explicit. So by bringing cows into people…it’s the opposite of anthropomorphism, isn’t it? Anyway, I guess my theme is ‘love!’
Some people say my work is interesting, but I’ve seen visitors at exhibitions turn red-faced and angry. I’m in the countryside, so I’ve had neighbours come take a peek, and they’ve been appalled. Also, my husband and daughter are very unsupportive, telling me, ‘Please don’t do this.’ (laughs).
Yamagata says she has never held a solo show or sold any work. When I conclude she must have accumulated many paintings over the years, she says, “I’ve only saved some, here and there. Only about 20 or 30.” She says she has destroyed almost all her earlier works by painting over them.
She has lived here for more than 20 years, but still doesn’t feel at home in the restrictive and isolated atmosphere of the countryside. Then she says, “Maybe this is why I can concentrate on my painting.”