The Japan Foundation Sydney is proud to announce Ai Sasaki: Wayfinder’s Passage, a solo exhibition by Ai Sasaki, a contemporary Japanese artist based in Osaka, on display at The Japan Foundation Gallery from 15 September 2023 to 27 January 2024.
Curated by Yu Iseki (Curator of the Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito), this exhibition features Sasaki’s recent works across mediums including drawings and oil paintings. It also includes new works created for this exhibition, such as a mural spread across the windows of The Japan Foundation Gallery using royal icing, a sugar-based confectionery decorative technique.
Through her works, Sasaki depicts scenes in which the worlds recollected from viewers’ ‘memories’ intersect with reality. Drawing from her experiences living abroad, Sasaki’s art practice takes inspiration from the mythology, legends and stories of the lands she has visited, along with the landscapes, plants and animals she has encountered.
The exhibition’s title, Wayfinder’s Passage, reflects the theme for this collection of pieces: the Latham’s snipe, a migratory bird that travels from the most northern part of Japan, Hokkaido, to the Tasmanian islands. Although Sasaki’s mural will be dismantled after the exhibition’s conclusion, the artwork will be carved into the memories of visitors, along with Ai Sasaki’s story of the journey between Japan and Australia.
Ai Sasaki will travel from Japan to Sydney to create the mural on display at The Japan Foundation Gallery, and will be in attendance at the exhibition’s opening reception on September 15.
An event program accompanying the exhibition will be announced at a later date.
