touch(ed) seashell pigment, mineral pigment, hide glue, Japanese paper, wood panel 2019 - 2020
Like many people, the Covid-19 crisis made me rethink the meaning of 'touch' and 'being touched'. In social life, distances were maintained to avoid infection, and everyday activities such as hugging or kissing a friend or patting the arm of an anxious elderly person were banned, causing people great confusion and stress, not only physically but also psychologically.
Touch is a very familiar means of communication, and so is art.
As soon as you become aware of the boundary of skin, you can feel the exchange of energy, empathy and warmth through that skin without difficulty. When a crying baby settles in a mother's arms, the baby's soft warmth soothes the mother's tired heart as well. I feel that these 'boundaries' are more ambiguous than we realise. I feel that these 'boundaries' are much fuzzier than we think.
Physically touching the surface of paper, leaving the marks of Japanese wide-brushes (Hake) with soft hair. soaked in the colour of pigment. I created this series by concentrating my attention on the overlapping and the accumulation of time that appears on the surface while sensing the feeling that accompanies the act.