Artwork Description
Eri Imamura – Numb
Dimensions: 35.75 x 26.75 x 6.75″ on panel / 32.25 x 24.5 x 4″
Year: 2022
Medium: Seed beads, cut beads, 24k gold beads, antique Japanese Kimono, wood, stuffing
During COVID lock down, people were prohibited from physical contact. We were limited to touch or feel each other. This made people feel numb because we could not use the full ability of human senses for the first time in our lives.
This piece is a female half body torso with a fancy coat. There is a traditional Japanese bride on the left side and a contemporary Manga bride on the right side reaching out their hands towards each other. It is the moment the Japanese girls in history connect with the contemporary worlds. Below each girls, there are full bodies dressed up with beautiful bride costumes with smoke thought bubbles heads. On the traditional bride side, the bride wears a black bride kimono with our sacred traditional birds, crane which was a common bride dress for Samurai class in the past. The bubble says “Feel what worth dying for” with a human heart. At that time, women in Samurai class have to be prepare for death at any time. On the contemporary side, the bride is the bride of an earlier piece “JP Girl B”. Her bubble says “Know what worth living for” with a human brain. The two bodies are also reaching out to each other. On the left arm is a corset, a mouth eating a love drug, and a corona virus below. On the right arm is a perfume bottle, a mouth eating drug, and nuclear radiation icon below. These imply that humans now become numb to feel or know the truth of reality just like being drugged.