森のエロス
私は森の中の木に宿る“気”を可視化しようとしている。
“気”とはなんだろう。
日本では古来、その空間、場所と人物、生きとし生けるものとの間にある種の力学が働いていると考えてきた。その力が作用している状態を神が宿ると言い、その雰囲気のことを“気”と呼ぶ。
私は、森の中を彷徨いながらふと目に留まった古木に心を惹きつけられ写真を撮る。その気配に生々しくも力強い生命力を感じたのだ。それは“森のエロス”と表現できるものかもしれない。
木は確かに生きているのだ。その生きとし生ける木々がどのように佇んでいるのかを撮影しながら私は生きる事の意味を考え続けた。命を次世代に繋ぐこと、それぞれの個性を許容すること、そして共に生きること…。厳しい自然の中で木達は個性豊かにそして逞しく自らを順応させ周囲と調和しながら生きる術を探している。
それらは、今我々が直面している問題、『個性の死』に対する問を静かに投げかけている。私は想像する。もし、木に意識があり、体温があり、血が通っていたとしたら、彼らは我々に何を伝えるのであろうか。
私は木のポートレート画像を3色分解し、一定のプロセスを施すことによって木の持つ“気”のイメージのあぶりだしを試みた。そしてその部位を着色することでその姿を表現している。
This series intends to visualize ‘Ki’ that dwells in forest trees.
What is Ki in the first place?
In Japan, people have believed that certain dynamics is working between spaces/places and human/all living things, and that God exists in that state. Ki signifies that very mood.
I often wander in forests and click the shutter button when fascinated by the physical appearance of ancient trees, that is exactly the moment when I sense the trees’ energetic vital force, which I call ‘Eros in a Forest’.
While capturing those tree portraits, I was made to feel that trees are literally living and I had to think about the meaning of life; passing one’s own life to future generations, accepting others’ individuality and living together in harmony, etc.
In the harshness of nature, trees of different characters are flexibly adapting themselves to the surrounding and seeking for the ways for survival. That fact silently throws a question concerning the ‘death of individuality’ faced by us. I wonder what trees would tell us if they are more human.
In this series, in order to surface the Ki that forest trees possess, I implemented a certain process in which the tree portraits are dissolved into three colors and afterwards the red color is added on the parts that I consider the Ki exists.
What is Ki in the first place?
In Japan, people have believed that certain dynamics is working between spaces/places and human/all living things, and that God exists in that state. Ki signifies that very mood.
I often wander in forests and click the shutter button when fascinated by the physical appearance of ancient trees, that is exactly the moment when I sense the trees’ energetic vital force, which I call ‘Eros in a Forest’.
While capturing those tree portraits, I was made to feel that trees are literally living and I had to think about the meaning of life; passing one’s own life to future generations, accepting others’ individuality and living together in harmony, etc.
In the harshness of nature, trees of different characters are flexibly adapting themselves to the surrounding and seeking for the ways for survival. That fact silently throws a question concerning the ‘death of individuality’ faced by us. I wonder what trees would tell us if they are more human.
In this series, in order to surface the Ki that forest trees possess, I implemented a certain process in which the tree portraits are dissolved into three colors and afterwards the red color is added on the parts that I consider the Ki exists.
