Answered by Aya Kikkawa

Would you mind expanding on how landscape plays a role in your artwork?

Aya - For me, landscapes are something to experience. I am interested in researching the nature beliefs that form the basis of Japanese beliefs and the great forces of nature that have influenced Japanese folklore. Landscapes have a great influence on our spirituality. For example, when I took the train from London to the suburbs, I felt the freshness of an hour-long flat landscape of countryside. This is because whenever I travel inside Japan, I always see mountain scenery and have the feeling that the areas where people live are located between the mountains. I thought that these differences in the shape of the land may unconsciously influence us. And I do feel that our imagination is born from the land and the forms of nature. Japan is surrounded by the sea and mountains and lives in constant contact with terrifying natural disasters such as eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis, which is reflected in the Japanese-derived religious views. The landscapes in my work are manifestations of faith that are both intimate and awe-inspiring.

I try to create a mutual relationship with such landscapes through photography. I don't set the composition of my photos in advance, so I walk to take photos while thinking about how I would feel when I visit the place and how I would capture the atmosphere. After taking a photo, I look back on the landscape as an experience. Then I connect it with the folklore of the area. When I visited Lake Ashi in Hakone, I learned about its unique topography and evidence of Mt. Fuji's eruption. A seven-headed dragon is enshrined at Lake Ashi, which was isolated from the sea due to an eruption as if to represent its size. The image of a dragon’s elegance and fearfulness makes you feel the great presence of nature behind you.

How do you define landscape and its connection to prints and objects?

Aya - What exactly is the line between the image in a person's head and the scenery that appears in reality? I wanted to approach this issue by taking a different material approach. While exploring different combinations of media, a concept emerged. Laser-cutting woodblocks reveal a striking contrast between the organic texture of the wood and the precision of the printed lines. When I looked at the surface of the print, I realized that woodblock print and machine processing existed at the same time. Woodblock prints encouraged a deep relationship with the material of wood. The suppleness and texture of wood made me realize that it is a primitive material in the natural world, and making prints became a process of confronting this.

I then thought about how to give an image a sense of depth using the flat material of prints. For example, I created an installation that projected photographs onto woodblock prints. By contrasting digital images and printed illustrations, I tried to give the landscape a spatial feel. This is a mechanical and manual mixing process. I drew an original illustration on an iPad and thought about the design while looking at projections and photo layers. The illustration data is then sent to the laser processing machine. I printed this woodblock using a bamboo baren. I believe that the fun of making prints comes from the dialogue with the materials. It makes you feel nature and imagine natural scenery. One of my concepts is to combine prints to create multiple layers while maintaining flatness. The first step in production is to go to a certain location to take photographs. Thinking about what to photograph and how to photograph it is my first dialogue with the landscape. When deciding what kind of image to overlay on a landscape, I believe that by examining my photographic record and its history, I can develop a closer relationship with the landscape.​

Could you share your approach to working with colours?

Aya - Illustrations of ancient ruins, architecture, and the decoration of religious buildings influence the illustrated portion of my work. I'm also interested in the history and journey of patterns around the world. I think it's no wonder that they also represent the history of people's migration.

I'm thinking specifically about lines, which function symbolically in the work and are metaphors for something. In the symbolism of the 19th century, painters expressed in their paintings the invisible world and invisible emotions within themselves, and when you look at them, I think colour has a tremendous function. This is because I think the focus is not on the colour of what we see, but on how the brain functions through the human eye.

I work by referring to drawings of archaeological and religious places, and sometimes by traveling to those places. This is because they serve as symbols to convey messages from the past. Colour may somehow attract attention. These are hints and keywords for deciphering the story in the landscape. For example, Japanese shrines have torii gates called torii, which are white or red in colour. The red gate is said to have been introduced to Japan along with Buddhism and is said to have the meaning of warding off evil spirits. For humans, red is a colour associated with blood, and I think it is also a colour that conveys a sense of danger. Some say the message is that the terrain there is dangerous because Shinto worships nature. Regardless of whether this is true or not, what do we read from the historical and religious context? What do you imagine? It is important for me to question and imagine the hidden past.

Can you walk me through your research process when delving into the history and qualities of a specific land?

Aya - My process of creating photographic images is rooted in personal experiences, and I am dedicated to capturing the essence of nature and the history of the land. I approach my work with deep reverence and prayerful thought, recognizing that the land holds a wealth of information. I aim to express a sensory experience, capturing not only the visual of the landscape but also memories and beliefs deeply ingrained within individuals. Walking and photographing a place is connected to 'experiencing' it, as it brings an understanding of what defines it as a place.

About Hamish Fulton's artwork, his 'walking' dialogue inspires me to feel and think in the land. By walking, one discovers a place's history and unique nature, which has something in common with my photographic process. My photographic approach is dedicated to capturing specific landscapes that I encounter. Although I focus on landscapes from everyday life, I can sense the history of the land within that everyday life. And, as Fulton's dialogue suggests, by documenting, I can involve a part of the history of the place and turn it into a unique and personal encounter.

It is also known from Shinto lore that the presence of land has important implications for Japanese beliefs. But what kind of landscape identifies my own identity with a Japanese background? I think we need to rethink what kind of landscapes people find 'Japaneseness' and individuality in. I think we can connect the meaning of the place to folklore. This is because many folk tales are said to have their own birthplace, and they have spread throughout Japan over a long period of time in order to hand down "something" unique to that place. I will go deeper into folklore in Japan and its concept depending on the specific landscape.