日本では神々は万物に宿るとされ、多くの神が存在する。折につけて様々な神に祈る習慣が日本にはあるが、私の家では商売をしていたため、商売繁盛の神様である京都の伏見稲荷大社が子供の頃からとくに身近だった。
私がこの神様に強く興味を引かれるのは神の使いとされるキツネの存在である。神がまつられている両脇には必ずキツネが一対座っている。口には宝珠と財宝を守る蔵の鍵をくわえていて、侵略者を威嚇するかのように怖い顔でにらみつけている。
この神社には富を乞い願う多くの者が祈りを捧げる。
財産を持たざるものは持ちたいと願う。財産を持つものはさらに多くの財産を持ちたいと願うのだ。富を手に入れたい人間の欲望には際限がない。
しかし、富はいつかは必ず失われるものであるようだ。永続しないものであることは数多くの歴史が証明している。
人々の富への限りない執着、富を失った挫折と復活への切なる願い。その願いを神に伝えるこのキツネたちは、人間の欲望と執念を見守り続けてきたに違いない。
キツネの表情はそれら人間の心を、鏡のようにそのまま映し出しているように思える。
この日本独特の神とキツネの世界を表現するため、私は日本伝統の表現である浮世絵をモチーフとした。フラットな色調、際立つ輪郭線で、人間の欲望を見つめ続けてきたキツネの世界を表現したい。
In Japan, people believe in gods inhabiting all creations and therefore also believe there are many gods in Japan. We have a habit to pray in various ways. As my parents ran a business, Fushimi-inari-Taisha, which is a famous shrine in Kyoto and is dedicated to business prosperity, has been familiar shrine to me since I was a child. Inari is the name of a guardian deity of business and merchants.
The reason why I am strongly interested in the god of prosperity and Inari is because foxes are enshrined as the god's messengers. There is always a pair of foxes enshrined at the gate of the shrine. In their mouths, one holds the sacred gem and the other holds the key to the warehouse in which keeps treasures. They are staring at us with stern faces, threatening intruders.
Since ancient times, many people have visited this shrine to pray for wealth.
Some would pray for being rich, and others who are already rich would pray to be richer. People's obsession with wealth is unlimited.
However, people would lose their possessions someday. Demonstrated by history, we know that wealth doesn't last forever. When people lose their possessions, they might be frustrated and wish that wealth would be back. That's why they go to the inari shrine to pray for more acquired wealth. As the god's messengers, foxes must have watched for human's desire and obsessions with wealth. Foxes'faces seem as if they reflect human's greediness like a mirror.
To represent this Japanese peculiar god and world of foxes, I made my photographs look like Ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e is a Japanese painting or woodblock print, which flourished in 18-19th century and was very popular among people. Ukiyo-e is a painting that depicts the customs of this period. Expressing my photos in the Ukiyo-e style, I finished them in flat color tone and clear lines. Through my works, I want to express world of foxes in the shrine with human desire.
