Suzaku I ("Vermillion Bird I")

Suzaku I creates rich vertical stripes of purple, magenta, and white, underlaid with a grey wax-resist grid using the rōzome dyeing technique. The soft blurring of colors and dynamic quality of the dye evokes a calming, meditative landscape.

Context: Four Gods

The Kitora Tumulus at Asuka, in Nara Prefecture, is thought to have been constructed between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th centuries. Investigations have revealed colorful wall paintings inside its stone burial chamber. The Four Gods are depicted at the center of the four walls, each oriented to its corresponding cardinal direction, while the ceiling bears three concentric circles and the heavenly ecliptic, populated with constellations, which is thought to be the oldest surviving astronomical depiction in East Asia.

In this series of four works, of which Suzaku I ("Vermilion Bird I") is one, the artist envisions the white cube of the exhibition gallery as the stone chamber of the tumulus. Each work must be displayed in the correct directional orientation relative to the others. In other words, the work is not fitted to the walls, but the walls to the work.