Artist Statement

Chobozekka : The sole place where you can see matchless views

In July 2012, I visited the special exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Arts, where I was able to view Paul Gauguin’s masterpiece, “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” From the classical mythology, Arcadia; in the coarse canvas sack that struggles to look for a utopia, I saw the realities of what life was like for Gauguin in Tahiti. It was time to breathe together with the people of the island and face life and death.  From his brushstrokes, I felt the steady rhythm of his heartbeats, trying to live. On the surface of the canvas, there was a locus, generated from one’s own search for the truth in art, not shaken by debates concerning art history or painting techniques. After this intense impression of the experience, my stay in Shodoshima to participate in a residence program was decided.

This artwork, “Chobozekka: The sole place where you can see matchless views”, is an installation that consists of the configuration of Mr. Kazuyoshi Yoshinaga’s editorial, Shodoshima’s Legend and Folklore, and my own Residence Journal, creating an acrylic painting and sculptures that uses togei technique- Japanese ceramic art.

Around 13 meters wide and 1.6 meters tall, the large paintings came to naturally be an Asian landscape painting when drawn obediently, feeling the sunlight and the sound of the oceans’ waves from the Mito Peninsula of Shodoshima. On the canvas, in blue letters, are quotes from the legends and folklores of Shodoshima; while in silver letters are from my own journal.

The 45 sculptures are animals, monsters, scenes, and landscapes, derived from the quotations from the stories. Baked in Mr. Tamotsu Muroi’s kiln from the foot of the Kankakei ravine, they have become lovely figures that came to look like Jizos, stone statues in the form of Buddhist monks, often found by the roadside. I was helped by many of the townspeople in Shodoshima for the creations. Only by coincidence, a lot of these people had some sort of relation to the folktales: a descendant from a wealthy figure from a legend, or a former sumo-wrestler helping with a monster that pleads to sumo wrestle. For clay, I used Shigaraki clay and Seto clay, while I employed colorful and contemporary colors for the glaze.

The place of the exhibition, the concrete warehouse in Yoshino District was once a clay storage from a Kawara -roofing tile- factory. There are still remains of spattering clay left on the walls. It might be another coincidental fate that I employed recycled used clay for the making of the sculptures. I was able to experience the difficulties that tile maker Mr. Shinichi Yamamoto must have faced in manufacturing the roofing. Also, Mr. Yoshinaka, who collected the legends from the former Ikeda town, was born in the Yoshino district. During my 7 months residence, I was able to face the late people living in this beautiful place through creating artwork. At the same time, we were able to share the different sufferings that the people of the island had, and my creations are from their bright and lively figures.

When I step outside and head to the ocean, I can see the Yoshinozaki beach right in front of me. As I stand at the point of breakwater, I cannot help but sigh at the crystal-clear blue from the sea and the sky; and as they surround me, I feel as if I am melting into that landscape. By living with the people from the island in this sort of beautiful scenery, I discovered how tremendously fascinating humans can be, and this shining seawater and dazzling matchless view tells us that we can be those sort of human beings, as well.

I wish to leave impressions in from the folktales and to leap from the burning experiences at the island, and create new stories about hope in my work, “Chobozekka: The sole place where you can see matchless views.”

Yumiko Furukawa