“Viridian March” Sakae Ozawa



[Title] Viridian March
[Artist] Sakae Ozawa
[Date] July 17th, 2014 to September 18th, 2014

By the very definition of the word, “metamorphosis” comprises a mix of the past and the future. The past, that is, as the staging ground before the actual changes come to pass; and the future, as the surroundings subsequent to the transformation. In this latest Maison Hermès window display, images crafted to instantaneously capture and fuse these two chronological dimensions swell out before the mind’s eye.

Portrayed here is a quiet room interior, against the backdrop of a tranquil autumn setting. At the moment a rustling sound is imagined to gently caress the ears, a cluster of tree growth, advancing across the window space, emerges to boldly seize the field of vision. Before our very eyes, the wallpaper, window glass and floor become the embodiment of copious green leaves and sturdy young branches, immersing the space in the essence of an intensely procreative power seemingly ready to explode from within the room.

Events of metamorphosis are generated by nature, an entity with vast and inherent powers far beyond those conceivable to human beings. Here, plant life exudes its own unmistakable will and intent, moving to fill every available crevice within the glass-encased domain. With forest animals also swept into the picture, bringing the full realm of the natural world into elaborate play, the display becomes virtually inundated in a torrent of fertile green shades. The silhouette of a horse, formed by tree branches in the left-side window, struts into the lead, as the luxuriant Viridian March moves steadily forward into a separate world lying somewhere up ahead.

This window display is the brainchild of painter Sakae Ozawa noted for paintings comprised of unique color schemes and rich and powerful narratives. In this work, her normally two-dimensional world of painting is manifested for the very first time in such realistic space.

Gazing out through the dense leafy growth of the tree, meanwhile, is a largely concealed pair of eyes. Looking closely, within a petite canvas mounted on the wall of the room on the right, the face of a little girl is visible. Her gaze radiates a presence in stark contrast to the lavish tree growth, piercing through the room and window to reach into the eyes and hearts of passing beholders. Within these eyes, and the ambience within, lies the premonition of yet another metamorphosis, ready to unfold sooner than later, within this increasingly viridian saturated space.

Sakae Ozawa
Born in 1980 in Shiga Prefecture. After graduating from Kyoto University of Arts and Design in 2003 (completing the Western Painting Course under the Faculty of Arts and Design), she traveled to Germany to live and work for a year. She subsequently enrolled in the Academy of Fines Arts Vienna, from which she graduated in 2008 and returned to Japan. Ozawa continues to expand the stage of her artistic activities through one-man shows at the Mori Yu Gallery in Kyoto, venues in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other major cities. She also participates in group-based exhibitions – among the leading ones the “Garden of Painting ~ Japanese Art of the 00s” (National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2010), “Vision of Contemporary Art 2011” (Ueno Royal Museum) and other prestigious events. Sakae Ozawa is the recipient of the second Incentive Award of Koji Kinutani (2010).

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