Jörgen Axelvall & Yukimasa Ida at MAKI Gallery, Tokyo.
A collaborative show born out of friendship and respect for each other’s creative output, conceived on the evening of a lunar eclipse, the work’s a continuation of my quest for deeper understanding of humanity. The fleeting illusion of a disappearing moon commanded by mother earth’s transitory shadow raised questions concerning singularity. With ever-increasing use of facial recognition software, AI and photo filters in the virtual world coinciding with pandemic coerced mask-covered real life interactions, Lunar Eclipse examines identity by deduction of details, seeking familiarity in obscurity and vice versa, echoing Ida’s deftness at crystalizing gestalt with a few decisive brushstrokes.
As the work took shape, yet another war broke out, this time in Europe, the cradle of numerous devastating conflicts. Born on the continent and coming of age in the era of ‘glasnost’ with the subsequent fall of the Berlin Wall, a time when “never again war” seemed like a real possibility, the impact, exacerbated by modern media frenzy, was profound. My native Sweden, after over 100 years of self-proclaimed neutrality, rushed to become a NATO member. Once again pacifism’s out, saber-rattling’s in – matters asserting themselves in the works: ambiguous portraits projecting desolation, a lone moonlit tree photographed repetitively suggesting various stages of disintegration - identities disrupted, erased and often lost.
Unique collaborative pieces - photographs incorporating Ida’s sculptural work, as seen above, and below, a set of the portraits, altered and transformed by Ida - can inspire cofunction and kinship, essentials to peace.
