Kyoto Art Centre is pleased to present Tomoko Hayashi's solo exhibition, 'and the world is mud'.
Embarking on a unique artistic journey, Tomoko Hayashi, a Kyoto-based artist, initially studied dyeing and weaving at an arts university in Kyoto. She then ventured to London, where she delved into creating works that explored the theme of sensation and communication between people, aided by cutting-edge technology. Her path led her to Ireland and Scotland, where she immersed herself in the rich nature and history, sparking a profound realization about the connection between people's inner nature and the nature that extends outside. This realization brought her back to Kyoto, where she now presents her solo exhibition, 'and the world is mud '.
The exhibition, named after the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi, is rooted in this interest. Mud, a vast collection of fine particles bound together by moisture, has no specific form. While it is seen as muddy and dirty, it can also be life-giving.
and the world is mud. In this exhibition, Hayashi considers the world as a movement in which the individual and the whole are organically connected, and life is circulated, and ponders the nature of our life within this movement. How do our inner and outer natures resonate with each other? The exhibition attempts to awaken our pre-linguistic sensibility by re-engaging us with the 'form of the formless' and the 'voice of the voiceless,' hidden by the social order.
Artist Statement
As a child, I found myself in the vast desert of Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb. This juxtaposition of my small existence against the overwhelming nature around me sparked a longing for invisible connections to others, a feeling that has guided my artistic journey.
The Great Earthquake that I experienced after returning to Japan made me keenly aware of the fragility of everyday life and also made me realize that in the face of the great nature, science, technology, language, social systems, etc., that we humans have created are not all-powerful.
Based on these experiences, while questioning modern rationalism and rapid technological innovation, I sometimes dared to use science and technology fully and have sublimated them into works that allow us, human beings who will surely die one day, to perceive through our five senses the interactions and mutual permeations that are born and disappear moment by moment as we interact and feel each other in this world.
Returning to Kyoto, I was inspired by the rich natural environment at the foot of Mt. Hiei and the magnificent cosmology of Kegon philosophy. This inspiration led me to delve into the 'interconnectedness of all things, a concept that I have since questioned and explored through my works, incorporating natural science and philosophical thinking.