Introduction by the artist

At the antique market in Shanghai, I felt for a  Chinese girl who glared scornfully at a man in a shop as he was explaining the foot-binding tradition in obscenely lurid words to foreign tourists; at the same time, I found myself fascinated with some old photos of Chinese women wearing those cruel and bizarre little shoes; yet, later, as I started to paint in a cloud of guilt, it became more pleasurable than I thought it would, and my guilt grew even larger.

For this solo exhibition in China

These works were presented in another solo show in Tokyo 2008.I chose this foot binding motif in order to express girls who are oppressed but vicious. But at that time I never expected that I could have a show in China.The custom of foot binding, at least in Japan, has been superficially described as “the erotic curiosity mixed with the macabre” or “beauty as tradition”, while also criticized as “symbol of a patriarchal male dominant society. ”  For a long time, foot binding has been a widespread practice among many Chinese women. I assume, to a certain extent, this had been forged by the women's will to survive in society, as well as by patriarchism. In this custom, besides the women's vicious strategy to try to live within their restricted world, I feel as well, a sense of tragedy that they had to sell themselves against their own will. This might still be the situation of many women, though the period of foot binding had passed. When I started working, I had some guilt towards the beauty I felt for the women with bound feet, the same way as looking at goldfish in a fish tank. However, after I had finished I felt that like them, I was also in a fish tank.I feel anxious but also excited to see how Chinese ladies feel when they see my works. I would be grateful if I will get to know their reaction during this exhibition.——Sakae Fukuda