Dust to Dust, Earth to Earth: How to Keep His Departed Self?

In the image, circular pieces of clay climb onto the girl’s body, covering her with white scales of skin. The girl occasionally opens and closes her eyes, yet she never expresses any signs of fear. Facing these overwhelming pieces of clay, the girl quietly disappears...

The video work, Noriko’s first solo exhibition in Taiwan. Facing shock over the passing of her longtime boyfriend, Yamaguchi underwent a state of endless grief. In Japan, people believe that the departed return to being dust. As a result, Yamaguchi began wondering if her and her boyfriend could form a relationship through a unification of body and clay. In Tsuchitarashi, the clay organism swallows the girl. The soil-feet developed from the dust embodied by the boyfriend climbs onto and envelops the girl’s body as if the two bodies are reunited intimately. Finally, the clay engulfs the girl and becomes a part of her body. Reminiscing about departed love, this video work carries the sincere and strong emotions of the artist, as well as provides an outlet for Yamaguchi’s sorrow.

Deconstructing Life, Reassembling the Body

Within Yamaguchi’s works, the artist is always physically covered with various types of media, such as in 2004’s Keitai Girl (Mobile Phone Girl), 2007’s Peppermint Mother, or this exhibition’s Tsuchitarashi. In college, Yamaguchi was discontent with her outer appearance. Compared to other girls of her age, she looked too young and immature, which did not match her mental age. Because of this, she did not fit in well with her peers. However, this also inspired her to use her female body as the media to her artwork and explore issues relating to gender roles and sensual desires.

In addition to her video works for this exhibition, Yamaguchi’s photography works, such as Keitai Girl, Princess of Ogurara, and covered with mobile phone components, which symbolize the instantaneous characteristics of the digital era. The works, Princess of Ogurara and female character depicted in Japanese mythology. According to legend, Ogtsuhime offered food she grew directly from her body to Susanoo no Mikoto, one of the three Tenji (Heavenly Gods), as a gift to welcome his arrival. However, as soon as he found out about this, Susanoo no Mikoto killed Ogtsuhime.

For this exhibition, Yamaguchi attempts to express her views regarding reincarnation: the dead return to the earth to become nutrients for the development of new life. For these works, she further emphasizes the touching that occurs between a person’s body and emotions, which are all expressed across different subjects. In an artist statement, Yamaguchi stated that, “In the process of creating my more recent works, I intentionally infused my personal emotions and experiences into the images. If I can successfully infuse personal perspectives on daily life into my new works, I believe I will be able to enter the next phase of my career as an artist.”