Blue Collection
This work is a portrait that I created while facing myself anew, questioning the Japanese tendency to be overly concerned about others.
本作は、他人に気を使いすぎる日本の風潮に対し、改めて自分と向き合い制作したポートレイト作品である。
EP1. Water
Myself｜ I was on a floatation ring at the beach and kept being swept away by the waves, crossing the swimming area, and in the midst of wandering between life and death, I saw...
model｜ While aspiring to enter the entertainment industry, her mother denied her looks and voice. Facing this frustration, she went abroad to study at the age of 15. After experiencing the rough and tumble of a foreign country, she is now active as a ballet dancer and actor.
作家本人｜ 海水浴場で浮き輪に乗ったまま波に流され続け、遊泳区域も越えてしまい、生死の境をさまよう中で目にしたのはなんと...。
被写体 ｜ 芸能界を志す中、母親から容姿や声質を否定される。その悔しさと向き合い、15歳の時に海外留学。異国の荒波にもまれ、現在はバレエダンサー・俳優として活躍。
EP2. Denim shirt & Flower
Myself｜I used to date a woman who liked blue flowers. One day, I suddenly lost touch with her, and later I saw her walking arm in arm with an unknown man. They were both wearing matching blue denim shirts, and more...
model｜ Through body painting, she confronted her own body and created self-portrait works while searching for a way to express herself. Also works as a photographer.
作家本人｜ 以前、青い花が好きな女性と付き合っていた。ある日突然 彼女と音信不通になり、後日 見知らぬ男性と腕を組み歩いている姿を目撃。ふたりはお揃いの青いデニムシャツ姿で、さらに...。
被写体 ｜ ボディペイントを通じて自分の身体と向き合い、自己表現方法を模索しながらセルフポートレイト作品を制作。写真家として活動。
EP3. Mirror
Myself｜I had a psychic experience only once in my life. In a certain facility, I was walking towards a large mirror at the end of the hallway...
model｜ In order to overcome the trauma of love and the complex of her appearance, she has been making efforts to face herself and is currently working as a model.
作家本人｜ 人生で一度きりの心霊体験。とある施設で、廊下の突き当たりの大きな鏡に向かって歩いていると、鏡に映る 青いジャージ姿の自分が突然...。
被写体 ｜ 恋愛のトラウマや容姿のコンプレックスを克服するため、自分と向き合いながら努力を重ね、現在モデルとして活動。
Statement. With TRAUMA
Why is it often said that Japanese people are not good at asserting themselves? Why do Japanese people care so much about other people?
The Japanese tendency is to emphasize cooperation and always look out for others. We are taught not to be a bother to others, we obey our teachers at school, we obey our bosses at work, and we care more about others than ourselves. Even in my private time, I use SNS to check out other people's private life. In this way, we spend all of our time worrying about other people, forgetting to "face ourselves" and losing our self-confidence, not being able to find what we want to do, and so on. Being aware of others is not in itself a bad thing, but I believe that Japan's tendency to go too far is a major social problem.
As I thought about this, I suddenly thought about myself. Am I ready to face myself? In fact, I have a past that I have continued to turn away from. There are several traumas that I fear to face and still dream about. If you don't get over it, it will follow you for the rest of your life. I can't pretend that it didn't happen after all this time. I decided to take this opportunity to speak up and face my trauma. Coincidentally, all of my traumas have to do with the "color blue". I created this work by projecting my "trauma = blue" onto subjects who, like me, are going through their lives facing up to events from the past.
なぜ、日本人はよく「自己主張が苦手」と言われるのだろうか？ なぜ、他人のことばかり気にしてしまうのだろうか？
協調性を重視し、周囲と足並みを揃える風潮。「他人に迷惑をかけるな」という教えのもと、学校では教師に従い、会社では上司に従い、空気を読み続ける日々。さらにプライベートな時間も、SNSで他人のプライベートチェック。こうして四六時中、他人のことばかり気にするうち「自分と向き合う」ことを忘れ我を見失ってしまう。他人を意識すること自体悪いことではないが、日本の行き過ぎた風潮は大きな社会問題だと感じる。
しかし問題意識を持つ自分自身はどうなのか？ はたして自分と向き合えているのだろうか？実はこれまで目を背け続けてきた過去がある。向き合うことを恐れ、未だに夢に出てくるトラウマがあるのだ。克服しなければ、一生付きまとってくるだろう。起きてしまった事実を今更なかったことにはできない。これを機に有言実行で、トラウマと向き合うことにした。偶然にも、私のトラウマには全て「青い色」が関係している。私と同様、過去の出来事と向き合いながら人生を歩む人を被写体に「トラウマ = 青」を投影し作品制作を行った。