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Iconographic Meaning

Flowers: Misohagi (Lythrum anceps), Jerusalem artichoke, Crape myrtle. Location: Ukedo, Naime Town.

Narrative

Artist statement: "Sacrifice. I lived in Haramachi in the city of Minamisōma in Fukushima Prefecture from December 2013 to August 2014. At that time, Haramachi was the closest livable town to the nuclear power plant where the accident had occurred. With the visible traces of the tsunami still around, the city was filled with a sense of emptiness as people evacuated; at the same time, as if contradicting the emptiness, the city also came to be dominated by a sense of life filled with lush, green plants. Overwhelmed by the environment, I arranged flowers as if burying that which had been lost, and photographed them. Ten years have passed since the disaster. The landscape I saw at that time has vanished and the city has been reborn. At first glance, it appears as if its pain has been healed. However, just ten years after the unprecedented natural disaster and nuclear accident, we cannot pretend as if nothing happened. The flowers that rose from the muddy, contaminated ground at that time still bloom at the border between nature and humans. Where is the boundary between us and these ever-fragile flowers that cannot survive if humans exceed nature, or vice versa? Have we begun to find answers?" (Place and date made refer to artist's original photograph. Copies 3542/1-3 were printed in Vancouver in late 2021 for donation to MOA.)

Description

Large photograph of plants in a rubber boot, in an open window frame; the plants are misohagi (lythrum anceps), Jerusalem artichoke and crape myrtle. The boot is in the centre of frame; room window is set in dark grey, with cracks in the walls. Signs peeling off wall to left of window; open door to right, blocking edge of window frame. Assortment of ceramics, papers and wood debris underneath window. In the background outside, there are tall green plants and barren grey-brown trees; the sky is clear.