In Japanese, the word utsusu carries multiple layers of meaning:
to copy, to project, to transfer, to capture, to reflect.
A single sound encompasses a wide spectrum of actions—transmission, transcription, transformation.
This series explores what it means to “reflect” or “imprint” a face,
by embracing the ambiguity embedded in the word itself.
Art of "U･TSU･SU”
In Japanese, the word utsusu carries multiple layers of meaning:
to copy, to project, to transfer, to capture, to reflect.
A single sound encompasses a wide spectrum of actions—transmission, transcription, transformation.
This series explores what it means to “reflect” or “imprint” a face,
by embracing the ambiguity embedded in the word itself.
In Noh mask-making, utsusu is the traditional technique of replicating ancestral masks.
But “utsusu” is more than reproduction—it transmits traces of age, wear, and spirit.
This art series expands the idea of utsusu into four layers:
reproduction, projection, perception, and reflection.
To “reflect” a mask is to face what reflects back at you.
―U･TSU･RO･Ｉ―
2022
Wood, Pigment, Photography
