2019
TO ERODE
Unique c-print photograms (ink, sunlight, artist's breath), PVC backing, burnt wood beam, wooden frame, 2-ch audio composed by Andrew Paul Keiper
Print: 30 x 60 x 3 inches
Installation: Various
To Erode consists of a photo-sculpture surrounded by two speakers. The work was inspired by the idea of Black Rain, rain darkened by contaminated soot and other particulates from the a-bomb explosion, which can spread the nuclear fallout to a wide range of land beyond the area of conflict. The image is both micro and macro; it can be read as a close up of skin dreached in the rain or drowned souls desperately trying to reach the surface. The framed image is supported by a charred beam that was once used as supports of a house.
2019
TO ERODE
Unique c-print photograms (ink, sunlight, artist's breath), PVC backing, burnt wood beam, wooden frame, 2-ch audio composed by Andrew Paul Keiper
Print: 30 x 60 x 3 inches
Installation: Various
To Erode consists of a photo-sculpture surrounded by two speakers. The work was inspired by the idea of Black Rain, rain darkened by contaminated soot and other particulates from the a-bomb explosion, which can spread the nuclear fallout to a wide range of land beyond the area of conflict. The image is both micro and macro; it can be read as a close up of skin dreached in the rain or drowned souls desperately trying to reach the surface. The framed image is supported by a charred beam that was once used as supports of a house.
© 2023 by Kei Ito.
Created on Editor X.
Sungazing
2015 - Ongoing
108 of 8”x10” prints, Scroll: 12” x 150’ to 220’ depending on the edition
On August 6th 1945, at 8:15 AM, my grandfather witnessed a great tragedy that destroyed nearly everything in Hiroshima. He survived the bombing, yet he lost many of his family members from the explosion and radiation poisoning. As an activist and author, my grandfather fought against the use of nuclear weaponry throughout his life, until he too passed away from cancer when I was ten years old. I remember him saying that day in Hiroshima was like hundreds of suns lighting up the sky.
In order to express the connection between the sun and my family history, I have created 108 letter size prints and a 200 foot long scroll, made by exposing Type-C photographic paper to sunlight. The pattern on the prints/scroll corresponds to my breath. In a darkened room, I pulled the paper in front of a small aperture to expose it to the sun while inhaling, and paused when exhaling. I repeated this action until I breathed 108 times. 108 is a number with ritual significance in Japanese Buddhism; to mark the Japanese New Year, bells toll 108 times, ridding us of our evil passions and desires, and purifying our souls.
If the black parts of the print remind you of a shadow, it is the shadow of my breath, which is itself a registration of my life, a life I share with and owe to my grandfather. The mark of the atomic blast upon his life and upon his breath was passed on to me, and you can see it as the shadow of this print.