Canon global

I’ve always thought about taking photographs and the relationship between myself and the outside world. Unless there is some connection between myself and the outside world, I won’t even be aware of what is happening in it. I took photographs of this world as an outsider, but they just became a collection of pictures with no fixed perspective. I felt no attachment to them, and could not any value in them. This may have been because I had no objective, and didn’t demand anything from them. I think that this line of thinking is what gave me the idea for this work. I want to be able to express what I’m thinking about more, and this is my first attempt to do that.

I think that huge numbers of works have been produced that are about oneself, that express one’s own world view or inner self. But I’m unable to connect with the outside world without really understanding myself or my own thoughts, so I decided to begin by expressing the things I think about on a daily basis.

I find unconsciousness mysterious. Fragmented memories of my childhood, which I don’t understand why my brain has chosen to retain. Incoherent dreams that I vividly remember. The self that even I may not have known. The feeling that I have probably been like this for some time. I decided to try and become conscious of this unconsciousness. This work comprises images that emerged from embodying this by valuing photograph composition, lightness, and sensations like those felt by a mischievous child.

Her work has spirit, and a humor that hasn’t been seen in photographs up until now. Having said that, it’s not so funny that it makes me laugh. In the Edo Period there was this word wokashi, which meant “mood” or “flavor,” and I guess her work is ito-wokashi (amusing). It’s interesting, the photographs of only feet, for example, though they’d be even better if the socks had holes in them or were moth eaten. She’s also included round photographs, which nobody ever does. You get the impression that she decided to do that on a whim, that she’s a bit of a slacker, but that’s good. But the pictures aren’t erotic. They really need to be more erotic. She’s inexperienced, but I sense potential in that inexperience. She may well improve dramatically.