PROFILE

現代は昔と比較するとテクノロジー、医療の発展などどんどん豊かになっている。
その裏では終わらぬ戦争、独裁、虐殺、閉塞感や同調圧力が理不尽に漂っている。

こんな息の詰まる世界から早く解放されたい。
死後の世界を想像するとワクワクする。
私にとって「死」は光り輝く希望だ。

けれど、「死」と言う
解放を目前にすると立ち止まってしまう。

生きて欲しいと言ってくれた人。
この先が楽しみだと支えてくれてる人。
私の絵の前で泣いてくれた人。
自ら命を落としてしまった人。
死んでしまうかもしれない戦地で戦ってる人。
愛する人を殺されてしまった人。
愛した人の最期を見届けられない人。
そして日常に転がる些細な幸せ。

この絶望が、解放の道へと邪魔をする。

「生」に目を向けると、気持ちが沈んで溺れそうな感覚になり、視界が暗くなる。

けれども「死」を想うと根底にある”何が”が輝いてくる。

平等に死ぬ。骨となって。
だからこそ鳴り止まない
“今”を絵で叫ぶんだ。

Artist Statement
Shuri Fujikura: Memento Mori

“Remember that you must die. Live with humility.”

Compared to the past, the present is marked by an increasing abundance of technology, medical advances, and other developments. At the same time, this is an age pervaded by irrationality, characterized by endless war, tyranny, and genocide along with oppressive stagnation and conformity.

It is my desire to break free from this suffocating world as soon as I can. Imagining the afterlife fills me with excitement. To me, death is a radiant hope.

Yet, just as the liberation of death comes into view, I find myself at a complete standstill.
One person says they want me to go on living.
Another one tries to cheer me up by saying there is so much to look forward to.
Someone else breaks into tears at the sight of one of my paintings.
Another person takes their own life.
Someone else makes the potentially fatal choice of engaging in combat.
One person is forced to deal with the murder of a loved one.
Another one is unable to be with a loved one in their final moments.
And then there are the small joys that are part of everyday life.

This is the kind of despair that stands in the way of liberation.

When I focus on life, I become depressed and feel as if I’m drowning before everything goes black.

But when I imagine death, something that lies at the heart of it begins to shine.

Death is the great leveler. We all end up as bones.
All the more reason to scream a ceaseless “now” in my paintings.