Artist: Yoshimasa Tsuchiya
The town where I grew up was a residential area developed on a hill, and there was a mountain right behind it. Wild Taiwanese squirrels lived there, and even in the residential areas, I often saw them running along the power lines.
Seeing squirrels reminds me of my hometown, and I feel relieved. Their posture of stopping suddenly, hunching their backs, and putting their palms together is like that of someone making a wish, and I feel close to them.
From the exhibition greeting when the squirrel work was released:
Since 2019, the world has been in a state of uncertainty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (as of the exhibition held in 2021). I tried to give a visible form to the invisible anxiety, focusing on the animals living in the forest in my mind.
The squirrels, with their wave-like patterns and antique finish, represent a longing for a different world that is "here and now."