#morikami

Yoshida Ayomi

Blessed Rain

2021

Installation: woodblock printed ink on indigo-dyed washi paper

"For over 20 years, Yoshida Ayomi has been creating room-sized installations for museums and galleries in Japan and the United States. Typically combining abstract printed and painted elements on washi paper, she uses these organic natural materials to recreate the outside world within an enclosed space, often with the intention of spotlighting environmental issues. With this work, she encourages action to stop the climate change that is causing annual rain-related disasters in Japan.

"Japan has always been a land of plentiful rain. For this reason, the Japanese have built their culture around living with the rain. Many woodblock prints from the world of ukiyo-e (Japanese: 浮世絵 - literally "pictures of the floating world") depict scenes of rain, in which people are shown going back and forth in a lively manner in the midst of the rain. Back then, rain was not seen as depressing weather that brings natural disasters. In the Edo period (1600-1868), rain was seen as a blessing in Japanese life and culture.

A few hundred years later, Japan's heavy rains bring with them annual disasters, including landslides, floods and long periods with no sunshine due to prolonged rain. Our view of rain has changed. Today, we see it as something that brings with it disaster. This is not only the case in Japan. Many countries throughout Asia and Europe are facing the same problem.

In this installation, I use the same traditional woodblock printing techniques used in Edo-period ukiyo-e prints to depict today's rain. I believe we have to think about what we need to do to ensure a better tomorrow, in which we can again all be lulled to sleep by the peaceful sound of the falling rain." - Yoshida Ayomi, 2020"

Morikami Japanese Gardens Delray Beach , Fl.