In reading The Pillow Book, I was struck by Sei Shonagon’s noting of everyday moments and appreciation of life as experienced. I took influence from the Japanese philosophical concepts of mono no aware and ichi-go, ichi-e, both of which emphasise the passing of time and the unrepeatable nature of each moment. This led me to reduction linoprinting, a process which destroys previous layers as the next one is carved, much like each day must be let go of for the next to arrive.
The animations were the result of noticing how the smudges of ink I accidentally left on the paper looked like clouds passing across the sky. Flicking between the supposedly-identical prints like this allows the viewer to notice the subtle variations and brings the scene to life. I chose to create another lino print, as I noticed I have a tendency to put less effort into something I don’t expect to be good at, so I wanted to show myself how I could learn from the first print and improve my skill. Each one has audio: the view from my window is paired with the music I listened to as I worked on it looking at the same view, and the fire has ‘crackles’ from pulling apart the prints where the wet ink stuck them together.
Though my day-to-day life is worlds away from Shonagon’s, with things existing now that didn’t then and vice-versa, I was able to feel something of a connection to her, through our appreciation of our environments and seasonal markers.
