When selecting what I work I wanted to show at 10: Art Byte Critique Anniversary Exhibition, I knew it had to be something mushroom related. I spent a lot of time looking through photographs of mushrooms I’ve taken through out the years and discovered a photo from a trip I took to Aomori the same year Art Byte Critique was established.
MUSHROOMS!
Mushrooms became a main theme of my artistic exploration since joining Art Byte Critique. I created mushroom-themed work ranging from macro photography, to artist books, zines and fiction. This photo is my first piece in that exploration. I was doing infrared-type film photography in the Shirakami Sanchi forest in Aomori in 2012. I still remember the light filtering through the beech leaves put the mushrooms in a kind of spotlight. This photo has the kind of fairytale feeling that I try to capture in my photographic work.
The film I used is in Ilford SFX 200 film. I liked shooting forests with this film quite a bit. But to get that amazing infrared effect, I think it worked best for really sunny days. I remember one of the challenges for shooting this day was trying to capture the angle I wanted without leaving the path and tramping all over the forest. I wasn’t (and am still not) sure if we could leave the path for the health of the forest. Some places in Japan are quite strict about that.
Traveling in Aomori with my husband was a pretty special trip as well. We took the Shinkansen to Aomori city then rented a car and explored a lot of the prefecture. Since we went in the autumn, we also got to experience the apple harvest in Aomori prefecture.
Shirakami Sanchi
Shirakami Sanchi overlaps the border of Aormori and Akita prefectures. The area is designated as a UNESCO site and according to the site has “largest remaining virgin beech forest in East Asia.” The criterion for the area’s selection is actually pretty interesting reading and if you are interested in ecology and conservation, this page is about a 5 minute read.
Last Days for “10”
Monday November 28, 2022 is the last day for “10” Art Byte Critique Anniversary Exhibition. The show is at Launch Pad Gallery which is an easy walk from Ishikawa Cho station in Yokohama. Yokohama’s Chinatown is also near this station, so you could have a great day exploring the area and enjoying art and tasty snacks.
Some of the art work is for sale as well as a selection of art books and zines. I even have The Poison Issue from my MaiNichiMushroom Magazine series on sale.
SHOW DETAILS
Launch Pad Gallery is less than 10 minutes away from Ishikawa Cho station on the Keihin Tohoku Negishi Line. But Launch Pad Gallery has more detailed information for other train lines. For those who like to do their own map navi, the street address is:
5-186-8 ISHIKAWACHO, YOKOHAMA 045-641-1511
FRI-MON 13:00~19:00/ 金-月 13:00-19:00
