Japan Water

14 April to 31 July 2021

Being close to nature

“I think being Japanese, we are always close to nature. Humanity is a part of nature, and ​that is the most important thing”.

Lisa’s first water-inspired participatory exhibition was held in London, where she hung a large sheet of rice paper, then using dried straw she constructed the kanji character of “TA” (meaning rice field) to segment the paper. She then asked visitors, using their hands, to splash water on the paper. The result was folded neatly then torn into small pieces before finally being burnt.

The second major work relating to water was titled” Mizu”. Having exhibitions at SSA in Edinburgh and at a London Community Centre she asked visitors to draw or paint their images of “water “on a postcard sized paper. These were then posted by sea mail to Japan because she wanted the postcards to “touch” the surface of the earth and ocean, on their journey to reach her hometown community centre where she had held a third “Water “related workshop. Her ancestors had been strongly involved in purchasing a reservoir which was a crucial lifeline for the local farmers’ rice fields. The reservoir eventually became redundant and was sold, which funded the establishment of the community centre in Japan to commemorate the efforts of their ancestors. The culmination of the three workshops was to bury the postcards in a secret location.

”I think we are all spiritual”.