Paradise Dream 1
Paradise Dream 1
Harumo Sato
Acrylic, Japanese sumi ink, resin, ice cream container, face toner container, pregnancy pill container, laser cutting scraps, oil pastel, on wooden panel
48"x 36"x 1.5"
2022
This piece has two intentions: to cheer up anyone who views it and to advocate the positive aspects of a sustainable lifestyle by the use of repurposed plastic in art. In Japan during the middle ages, people treated pandemics or natural disasters as an expression of anger and sorrow by gods and evil spirits of the dead. In order to soothe the pain and cheer up the living and dead populations, people hosted a festival, called Go-ryo-e, to spread positive, uplifting energy, unite the community, and to pray for peace. As a Japanese immigrant artist who went through natural disasters early in life and gave birth in the middle of Pandemic, I felt an urgency to do Go-ryo-e with my art: cheering up viewers with color and whims, and at the same time, taking realistic action to promote sustainable lifestyle: treating domestic plastic waste as fine art materials. With my work, which with a first glance, does look like an ordinary painting with traditional materials, I ask society to accept upcycled art as “High Pop Art”, bring awareness to the consumption of plastic, and generate sustainability questions and, change one’s decision making processes for a harmonious living style with nature.