iCycle

Title: iCylce

Materials: Love, energy, acrylic, carved wooden bear

Dimensions (H x W x D): 17.5cm x 27cm x 17cm

Creation: 2023

 

Itadakimasu,

 

fragments of the cosmos.

 

Itadakimasu,

 

countless lives in circulation.

 

This work revolves around the theme of "cycles."

 

One aspect of this is eating.

 

Eating is the act of taking another life

to sustain one's own.

 

Of course,

those who are consumed

also once sustained themselves

by consuming other lives.

 

Eating is

allowing the cycle of life

to continue within oneself,

becoming a part of that flow.

 

We consume layers upon layers

of countless lives,

accumulated over astronomical spans of time.

 

Ultimately,

what we eat

is no less than fragments of the universe.

 

And,

as we consume these fragments,

 

we too,

are fragments of the universe

ourselves.

 

Another story lies within the theme of "cycles."

 

This piece is based on

an Ainu craftwork

that was inherited from a relative's home

after their passing.

 

(The inscription reads: "1971. 8. 2. Akan Lake")

After inheriting it from my relative's home,

I left it exposed to the elements for several years.

 

Under the sun and rain,

through the heat of summer and the cold of winter,

its colors faded,

and numerous cracks formed.

 

Surely, if left for a few more years,

it would break apart completely

and return to nature.

 

The collapse of the individual.

The integration into the whole.

 

In that process,

I found a cosmic sense of beauty.

 

I elevated it,

transforming it into a work of art.

Until the day it merges back into the whole,

for a little while longer,

 

it will continue to circle through this world

as a renewed individual.