Natsuko Eguchi
“ Dialogue ”
2019Excellence Award
ARTIST STATEMENT
Dialogue
Ten years have passed since my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer-type dementia
She can no longer recognize me as her daughter
She cannot understand words; she cannot have a conversation
This is extremely sad for me as her daughter
I wasn't able to accept it
In my childhood, my mother and I would often travel by train to my grandparents' house
I walked around that town for the first time in 40 years
Not everything in the town had changed
The buildings from 40 years ago were still there
Dim memories from my childhood started coming back to me
Someday I will lose my precious memories, just like my mother has
I thought to myself, if only I could save these memories in a physical form
And that spurred me to take photos of the town
While photographing the streets I had walked with my mother in my childhood,
I became aware that I was having a dialogue with my mother
Entries form: Book (195 x 218 mm), inkjet prints on washi paper, 212 pages
Selecting judge: Paul Graham
This work is replete with touching thoughtfulness concerning the artist's aged mother. It's a mixed compilation of old snapshots, portrait photos, fragments of paintings, and faded images that resemble disappearing memories. A variety of print techniques have been applied adeptly to construct these expressions: conversions from black and white to color, resizing, and semi-transparent paper material, looking like thin skin, that follows the yellowish cream-colored paper. The result is a moving photo collection with a very high degree of polish and refinement.
Photography is often thought to be a cold, inhuman medium that relies on camera technology, high-tech digital and film science, and optical formulas. But an artist can show us that it is possible to portray the vapor trails of human life using this technology, as this work does. This is visual poetry produced by hands and eyes of incredible sensitivity.
PROFILE
Natsuko Eguchi
| Born in Hyogo prefecture. Employed as a registered nurse since 1991. | |
| 2017 | Graduated with a Photographic Artist major from the Photography Course at the Visual Arts College, Osaka Started artistic activities at an independent gallery |
| 2017 | Award of Excellence at the Open Portfolio Audition at the Red Brick Gallery as part of the Higashikawa International Photo Festival |
Solo exhibitions
| 2018 | “The Time Goes Around: Summer” (at the Vacuum Gallery, Osaka, September) |
| “The Time Goes Around: Autumn” (at the Vacuum Gallery, Osaka, November) | |
| 2019 | “The Time Goes Around: Winter” (at the Vacuum Gallery, Osaka, February) |
| “The Time Goes Around: Spring” (at the Vacuum Gallery, Osaka, April) |
2019Excellence Award