Monoprint
4 1/2*10
I have dreamt a lot about natural disasters since I was a child. I diagnosed these dreams as the insecurity when encountering uncontrollable things. Ironically, I am controlled by my life, as a control freak.
My mother, who studied Chinese Classical Literature at Sichuan University, had loved reading Haruki Murakami's works 15 years prior to he became an surprisingly popular writer in China. But my Japanese friend Ayaka from Waseda said his writings were really difficult to comprehend, even for her as a Japanese, and was surprised I had read his books, which my mother bought. I immediately doubted whether I really understand what Haruki Murakami tried to express. Same thing happened when I asked Ayaka about a Japanese director Shunji Iwai who has great reputation for his style in China but the Japanese girl never heard of him.
This print is named after one of Haruki Murakami's novel. I tried invoking the same atmosphere I felt when reading his book, and burying it into the print. Especially after I read Almost Transparent Blue by Ryo Murakami, Japanese literatures to me are about euphemism* and within which shows both inborn pessimism and suicidal tendency.
* A Japanese novelist of Meiji era, Natsume Soseki taught his student that translating "I love you" to Japanese is never "我君を愛す( I love you)" but "月が綺麗ですね (Isn't the moon beautiful?)"