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The contemporary sculptor, Masayuki Nagare, often referred to as the “Samurai Artist” for his love and expertise with traditional Japanese arts, passed away on July 7, 2018. Obon, a Buddhist holiday that marks the spirits of the dead returning to their ancestral homes, coincided with the exhibition Dust of the World Washed by Droplets of Dew, held in Kagawa Prefecture in mid-August 2018. The site-specific work More or Less, created for this exhibition, was installed in the Kamebishiya Shoyu Factory, Nagare’s former home, in a room originally built as the artist’s studio. Backlit panels depicting five-hundred-year-old bonsai trees from nearby Ritsurin Koen, along with panels that mirror the bonsai garden just beyond the glass doors, create a photographic mosaic to welcome Nagare’s spirit on its first journey home for Obon.
installation view of More or Less from the exhibition Dust of the World, Washed by Droplets of Dew in Hiketa, Japan, 32 16” square panels printed on backlit film with pigmented ink, 2018
installation view of More or Less from the exhibition Dust of the World, Washed by Droplets of Dew in Hiketa, Japan, 32 16” square panels printed on backlit film with pigmented ink, 2018
installation view of More or Less from the exhibition Dust of the World, Washed by Droplets of Dew in Hiketa, Japan, 32 16” square panels printed on backlit film with pigmented ink, 2018