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| > about Hiromitsu Morimoto |  |
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| eBUNQA: It's been awhile, how are you? Looks like you are using traditional Japanese paper in your work this time. I like it. But why this medium? Hiromitsu Morimoto: You like it? The textural difference ....well, you know, ever since I left Japan after high school I lived in the US and returned to Japan mainly for my shows, but last year a certain experience altered my perceptions, friends say it's due to my age, well, maybe so.... |
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Q: You come to Japan about once a year usually? But what about this event, this change with your age? HM: I came back for my niece's wedding last year and stayed around my parent's home for a month. Usually when I come, I'm occupied by with my work and don't think about much else. But that last stay, I had more time and leisure, I even did things like laundry. Living here, "Japan" began to fill up my head. Q: I do think that when we meet, it's usually about your work, seldom about Japan or life in the US. HM: Leaving for college in the US, I guess about 30 years ago already, I left everything behind that was of Japan. After that, "Japan" and "Japanese" were very distant from my life. Then, last year at this wedding, I rediscovered the elegance and beauty in the spoken words by the women there.. There's no male/female distinction in the English language, lacks the subtlety. A sort of self-awakening began to stir from such incidents and suddenly I felt Japan of my past and today's rushing into my consciousness. That's quite an accident for me, to suddenly realize that I know very little about Japan.....like the amazing washing machine here - it weighs the stuff you put in to wash, calculates how much detergent is required and how long it will take, such a brain is not built into the ones in the US. I returned to New York, but soon found that I wanted to get back to Japan again. So I went to work with the intention of having a show in Japan, this one, here, this year. I'll continue to produce my work in New York, but wanted to make my start in Japan this time. Q: So how does it feel to be back in Japan this soon? HM: Once this show is over, I bought a JR rail pass, so with that, I plan to travel in Japan, alone. But, it's not clear where I should head to, so I think that I'll make my rounds to the museums in various cities which have my collections. Q: Sounds great that you have such connections to places you have not been. HM: Isn't it? I'm excited. I've traveled across the US, my wife is American, I know the US pretty well, but I know Japan only up the end of my high school, so it's rusty and dubious, maybe that's what my friends are referring to when they tell me that my nostalgia is related to my aging, well, that may be correct, perhaps. Q: Reflecting on his work after leaving the gallery, I realize that we didn't get to talk about the use of Japanese paper....yet, thinking about it, his expressive medium for one, and an emergent Japanese spirit for another, are beginning to show up in this artist's new work. ● click for more on Hiromitsu Morimoto |
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Interview by yu @ yokohama |
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