me and my boundaries

A man is searching for something in the darkness while holding a flashlight; it is not certain what he is looking for. The light is not strong, but allows us to see what we want, without harming the object of our vision. A woman stays in agreenhouse, or her own shell. She can see outside of the house but she does not go out of it or does not know how to do it. “Boundaries” are the main theme of my production.

I have repeatedly expressed what they are in my artworks like people spin stories. By looking to them, I try to experience a feeling in human body of going back and forth betweenthereal and imagined worlds.The real and imagined worlds existsitting side by side. Japanese people inherentlyknow this sense and have no hesitation in crossing theboundaries of the two worldsas the ancient shamans and the traveling performing artistshave traditionally expressed in their own practices. However,the modernization and the westernization made it difficult to do itsince the establishment of ego,which Japanese were not good at handling it, kept a distance betweenthe two worlds.

My purpose of taking photographs is depicting the traditionalmental phenomenon that Japanese people have naturally cultivated.In thephotographs, the man and woman approach or go back and forth between the reality and imagination. They eventually become the guardians of the boundaries of the two worlds. The “observers” through the lens just stareat the two people. The protagonistswill still continue to try to approach the edge of the “boundaries” in my future works. Theywill know something precious by their actionsin this essentially meaningless world. I assume that my perspective like this is influenced by Aikido, a Japanese traditional martial art. By training my body, I also want to do like the protagonists in my own photographs.