Giclee photo montage on Moab paper with laquered yuzen paper. 40” x 60”. A Japanese Butoh dancing waif, delirious from thirst and hunger, assumes the “raindrops” and concentric circles they create on a rock garden are real water falling from the sky. He climbs higher and opens his mouth wide in hopes of catching a drink, but to no avail. For me, it was a reference to love lost, disenchantment, and the solitary period between old and new loves.
I created this mini rock garden from volcanic rocks from Jeju Island, South Korea where I lived for a year. The white “raindrops” (egg, tear, and seed) were amidst those gathered along a random sidewalk. The act of stacking rocks is a Korean shamanic tradition thought to bring good luck.
Therefore, precariously stacking them on top of pyramid-shaped rocks, which represent splashing water, was perhaps my ritualistic attempt to tune in positive energy to my future.