Collection of 6 mezzotint prints represented kanji signs (each print represents one kanji sign). 口 - mouth, 日 – day or sun, 目 - eye, 工 – craft or industry, 土 - earth, 上 – up/above.
As a foreign, I cannot read the kanji signs but in Japan, you see it everywhere and you need to use to try to understand it. Not only kanji signs but also the strict rules are specific for the country of Japan. The kanji signs on the prints are following a grid. The grid is my personal metaphor for the rules because as I needed to follow the grid while I was making the pictures as I need to follow the rules.
The choice of the kanji signs is not random. I choose these not only because I like the shape of them (vertical and horizontal lines) and it is easy to put them into the grid but also for their meaning. I see these kanji signs every day and I do/see some things every day too. 口 – mouth = speaking, 日 – sun and day = living, 目 – eye = seeing, 工 – industry or craft = working/studying art and printmaking, 土 – earth = a place for living and finally上 – up/above = something that is hard to describe but it is always there with us. It can be God, a destiny, a universe or whatever you choose to call it. For me, it is something which is helping me (especially when I am in the completely different country). It is something above my possibilities, above our existence. 上 is also different from the other kanjis – they are symmetric but this one is not.
This work is followed by the prints 王子 (Ōji) and 日暮里 (Nippori). They are the rail stations for my home and the university. I see the kanji signs often when I am traveling between these two places.
As a foreign, I cannot read the kanji signs but in Japan, you see it everywhere and you need to use to try to understand it. Not only kanji signs but also the strict rules are specific for the country of Japan. The kanji signs on the prints are following a grid. The grid is my personal metaphor for the rules because as I needed to follow the grid while I was making the pictures as I need to follow the rules.
The choice of the kanji signs is not random. I choose these not only because I like the shape of them (vertical and horizontal lines) and it is easy to put them into the grid but also for their meaning. I see these kanji signs every day and I do/see some things every day too. 口 – mouth = speaking, 日 – sun and day = living, 目 – eye = seeing, 工 – industry or craft = working/studying art and printmaking, 土 – earth = a place for living and finally上 – up/above = something that is hard to describe but it is always there with us. It can be God, a destiny, a universe or whatever you choose to call it. For me, it is something which is helping me (especially when I am in the completely different country). It is something above my possibilities, above our existence. 上 is also different from the other kanjis – they are symmetric but this one is not.
This work is followed by the prints 王子 (Ōji) and 日暮里 (Nippori). They are the rail stations for my home and the university. I see the kanji signs often when I am traveling between these two places.
