平野淳子

Junko Hirano

Junko Hirano published a collection of works, "Genius loci/Memories," which captures the transition of the New National Stadium and attempts to express the memories of the land where the spirits dwell by going back and forth between digital and traditional Japanese painting techniques. This time, she presents a series of new works with the theme of Kyoto. Genius loci is the Latin word meaning “spirit of the place” in Roman mythology, consisting of "genius" guardian spirit and "loci" land, used as an architectural term to describe cultural, historical and social concepts. The artist took pictures of the flow of Horikawa near the gallery, Modoribashi ("Return Bridge”), the willow of Seimei Shrine, the Horikawa apartment, etc. and tried to combine digital and classical techniques by using traditional washi paper of varying thicknesses and textures as backing paper in a manner similar to Nihonga Japanese paintings as if they were photographic layers. The results remind one of overlapping memories and interweave techniques ranging from the classical to the contemporary. These are works that attempt to express the spirits that can be seen through the deep and multiple-layered history, using ancient Japanese techniques.