Journey to Seek for something “striking” and ponder about “Humanity”

Thanks to help from the local people, I never directly experienced any threats myself; however, the number of terrorist attacks increased during the month of Ramadan. The Gaza district was bombarded with missiles; the bus was shot within walking distance of my apartment. And the invasion of Ukraine by Russia also began while I was in Israel. Words such as fake news and propaganda were often heard. That reminded me that the history we know is a collage of history told by the winning side. Therefore, I decided to use soil to create artwork because the earth witnessed real people’s lives. First, I collected soil from areas around Jerusalem and refined pigments from it. (In Israel, there are security checkpoints everywhere. Carrying four plastic bottles packed full of soil in a backpack, I must have looked very suspicious.)

This is the country where old and new and east and west meet. It is built on soil that sits upon layers of complicated history and cultures. I contemplated whether it was the right material for me, a Japanese and stranger to this land. I felt a sense of guilt about it, which I wasn’t able to digest till the end of my stay there. However, I thought the Japanese paper I brought from Japan and the pigments extracted from the Israeli soil was a perfect match.

I also created embroidered works with wool on parchment paper which is also used for printing bibles. I wanted to express people’s lives by using techniques that are also applicable to pixel image processing on computers as well as using old techniques and materials – by putting thought into each and every stitch on the skin.
Israel – the land with endless wonders. I will definitely visit there again.

(Translation: Hisako Miyamori)