Sachiko Kazama's 'New Matsushima' Exhibition at Mujin-to Production Explores Environmental Change

Sachiko Kazama's exhibition 'New Matsushima' at Mujin-to Production in Tokyo ran from October 28 to December 3, 2023. The show featured 16 black-and-white expressionist paintings on aluminum plates inspired by century-old tourist postcards of Matsushima's scenic islands. These works depict islands resembling cupcakes with mushroom-shaped trees and references to Hokusai's 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa.' Three inkworks on small scrolls titled 'Stretching Coast [A, B and C]' displayed under Perspex cases reveal coastlines with excavators, cranes, temples, factories, and concrete coastal defenses. A breached waste pipe emits effluent into churning waters. Three large-scale black-and-white woodblock prints from 2023 include 'FLOW (Sode no Watari / Namidagawa),' showing a boatman with vampiric fangs in a flattened perspective that resembles a grave. A pair of stereoscopic images contrast coastlines then and now, showing added bridges and reinforced contours. Kazama employs traditional woodblock prints and contemporary media to investigate environmental and societal shifts, blending manga, sci-fi influences, and satire. The exhibition questions whether times are changing or if natural and human discord has always existed, unmasking the romantic view of Matsushima celebrated by Edo-era poet Bashō.