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Chikako HASEGAWA: Halls - Punica Granatum
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Published: July 30 2009

"Halls - Punica Granatum" (detail) (2009); acrylic on canvas mounted on panel, 42x29.7x3.4cm, courtesy of Roentgenwerke AG copy right(c) Chikako HASEGAWA

To feel the inner aspect of your body as if they are outside
To feel the outer aspect of your body as if they are inside

It is not unusual any longer to see the black framed images of the inner view of the stomach or intestines taken with endoscope. The microscope enables a glimpse of the world of cells which are invisible with our naked eyes. By viewing these pictures and images, we are able to gaze into the inner substance beneath the skin, as if it were of the outer world.

Is it only me who feels that those images of moving organs are not of those inside of ourselves, but something different. Rather, when I see the red transparent thin skin and numerous seeds peeping from the ripe pomegranates as they are peeled, I feel the meat of the body, the sensory organs and their functions.

At the same time, I feel physiological disgust and glamorous appeal from both. Why is this so. Why do I feel such from a fruit like a pomegranate?
- Chikako HASEGAWA

Chikako HASEGAWA (born in 1970, in Niigata) started the series of artworks "GIFT" (meaning 'poison' in German) in 2000, after she completed MA at Joshibi University of Art and Design. Choosing poison and poisoning during various eras and countries as the theme, HASEGAWA intends to visualize the repelling aspect of poison, the risk and the beauty which renders it. HASEGAWA was selected to be a Researcher by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan in 2002 and studied in England from 2006 to 2008 as a fellowship student of Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artists. During her stay in London, HASEGAWA completed MA in Fine Art at Goldsmith's College, University of London in 2008 and now lives and works in Tokyo. Through this first exhibition after she has returned to Japan, HASEGAWA chose to focus on "Halls", which are the significant medium which connects other side to our side. HASEGAWA attempts to draw out the physiological element which Halls connote, through her paintings. This is the first exhibition at Radi-um, after she held her solo exhibition with us in 2005. The show consists of only paintings, which is the first attempt for her exhibition at our gallery as well. * The text provided by Roentgenwerke AG.

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Last Updated on September 04 2009
 

Editor's Note by Satoshi Koganezawa

The title “Punica Granatum” is the scientific name for pomegranate, but Hasegawa’s works seem to express vividly an image of life which has a more fundamental meaning than that of pomegranate, which is classified simply as fruit. Her creations make us feel as if human flesh and blood, which appears under the stripped skin, is wriggling in a hole on a black background. Hasegawa created some exhibits in the shape of a peephole, which may suggest female genitals for some viewers. Through this exhibition, she shows us a sensual world which we are embarrassed to see in public. (Translated by Nozomi Nakayama)


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