"Updating Scene"

I am interested in the relationship between the actual objective experience of looking at a scene and the subjective interpretation of the same scene.

The simple definition of the word "scene" also includes both physical scenes as well as a psychological integration with "harmonious nature." This dualism became an important departing point for me to investigate and deconstruct my experience with specific scenes. Upon encountering a scene which I may find beautiful or pleasing, I ask myself what it is that I was looking at in this specific landscape and find fragments of self with in that landscape. This might include something that I heard, something that I saw, memories, experiences, etc.

Through this recognition of fragmented self within a landscape, I start to build my art works.

With my recent project, I have been using my photographs as an initial point of departure, to which I may add or subtract information. Through this repeated process of addition and subtraction, I try to transform an original photograph into a more personal and meaningful state. In short, artwork for me has been my process of investigation to find my subjective experience with a landscape as well as my life as a whole.

Aya Kawaguchi