shashasha

Kirishin, when written in Japanese as 切真 is composed of the character kiru meaning “to cut” (also used in the Japanese word for “sentimental”- a key theme found in many of Araki’s works-) and the character meaning “the truth” (also used in the Japanese word shashin meaning photography). As the title suggests, the photographs in this series have been printed from slide films that have been cut in half and pasted together by the artist, who was recently diagnosed with a retinal artery occlusion that has caused a loss of vision in his right eye. With subjects ranging from his daily life and the urban landscape of Tokyo to nude portraits, flowers, and dolls, the resulting images express Araki’s “torn” emotional state as well as narrate various stories through the act of cutting.