奥村　祥子 展
―Blossoms of Hope—

- 会期：3月16日～28日
- 時間:10:30～19:30 (最終日のみ16時閉場）
-場所:新宿高島屋10階美術画廊
日

（English is below)

日本古代の人々は、住処とした集落から見渡す里山を飾る白い桜の咲き具合で
秋の実りを占い、散る頃に田植えを始め、同時に豊饒を祈願してきました。

それは花というよりも、山から降りてきた農の神の前兆、前触れの役割であり、

サクラの”サ”は早苗、早乙女のサで穀霊すなわち田の神を意味します。

クラは神座、田の神の依り代を表し、それはひとえに日本人の生活の中に桜がいかに浸透し、

息づいていたかの表れでもあると感じています。

また、桜の花の散る頃に今も地方によって行われている鎮花祭は、

桜が散る季節の変わり目にはとかく疫病が流行るので、その疫病神を鎮める意味を持っています。

私はこのような、日本人が古来より桜に寄せてきた願いや想いを表現することを試みると共に、パンデミックに見舞われた今日、鎮花祭の意も作中の桜に込めました。

静けさの中に漂う桜の気品と、それに宿る日本古来の穀霊の気配を鑑賞していただければ幸いです。


奥村　祥子



"Blossoms of Hope"

In ancient times, the people of Japan would predict the autumn harvest by observing the blooming conditions of the white cherry blossoms that decorated the mountain and village borderlands seen from their villages.

When the cherry blooms began to fall, they would begin rice planting, and at the same time pray for a fertile harvest.

The cherry blossoms are not so much flowers as they are omens, playing the role of harbingers of the gods of agriculture who have come down from the mountains.

The "sa" in sakura means "early seedling" or "young female rice planter," which in turn means "grain spirit," or "the god of rice fields".

"kura" means "the place where there the rice god resides", and sincerely shows how pervasive the concept of sakura is in the lives of the Japanese people.  I feel even as if sakura embodies a symbol of "breath", of life.

The purpose of "Chinka-sai", festivals still held today in some regions when cherry blossoms are falling, is to appease gods of plague and illness due to the outbreak of various illnesses that often occur during this period.

I tried to express the wishes and feelings that Japanese people have had for cherry blossoms since ancient times.  At the same time, given that we are suffering in the midst of a pandemic, I tried to embody the meaning of the "Chinka sai" festivals in my works.

It is my wish that you will be able to appreciate the elegant and serene nature of cherry blossoms and the presence of the ancient Japanese grain spirit that resides in them.