Setsuko Maho / 2018
door-to-door
– The joy of knowing, joy of not knowing –
Acrylic paint, Cyanotype on wooden panel.
Artist Statement
Where Déjà Vu is more commonly known in the world, I have experienced Jamais Vu frequently since my childhood. The route to school felt totally unfamiliar street, the house that I was living felt like it wasn’t mine, or shop signs on street looks more like an abstract artwork than just alphabetic characters. Although I have never tried to find it out or ask anyone what it is that I was experienced but just kept wondering why I’m seeing and feeling these. Instead of looking for an answer to my odd experiences, I started to memorise those scenes by connecting the dots and adding some colours following my feeling at that specific moment. And that became the core concept of my artwork; “Wonder” brings inspiration and that becomes an artwork.
Most of my artworks are screen-printing. However, I am interested in a wide array of techniques and three-dimensional work recently. That is why I am in Sofia to create something new. This work door-to-door is one of my new challenging projects and I also aim to challenge myself creatively to enable me to grow as an artist.
“Déjà Vu”: the experience of thinking that a new situation had occurred before.
“Jamais Vu”: the experience of being unfamiliar with a person or situation that is actually very familiar; associated with certain types of epilepsy.