ED-GGY
Elsa Okazaki
2018
Artist Statement
The two-part-series EDD-GY came into being after the artist heard about a story of the Maiko (Geishas in training) and the procedure of their defloration, in which the young girls are to be moistened with an egg. Most Maiko experience their defloration around the age of thirteen, a clear indication that coercion, at least on account of the not-yet-developed personality and therefore heightened suggestibility, is taking place. The artist felt repulsed by this ceremony. One of the photographs shows the artist’s arm covered by a Kimono, with the hand holding elapsing egg-white. The egg is somewhat reminiscent of vaginal discharge. The other image shows the artist’s hand smashing egg shells on a horizontally placed mirror, which then spread across in a straight line, with the line perhaps reminding of a set path of Geishas.
My Japanese roots always inspired me, directly in the thematics of projects or indirectly in the aesthetic of others. Japan will always be a part of my works. At the beginning it was the search for identity, and then I work with stories which affected me. Soon my next work will be again on the thematic of identity, about my genes and the historical stories behind it.
Artist Bio
*1976, French-japanese visual artist, based in Vienna, Austria. After a decade of working in the advertising and movie industry, she now works exclusively in the field of the visual arts (photography and video). She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (with Professor Peter Kogler and Professor Matthias Herrmann) and has created video and photographic work since 2007. Okazaki also works as a curator. She portrays artists like Marina Abramovic and creates visuals for Hercules and love affair. Her artworks were exhibited in Austria, France and in the U.K. CURRENTLY She is publishing her first book in 2020, the `journal photographique 2009-2019’. It is a soft cover with a selection of analogue photos taken in a whole decade. Until the 30 of august 2020 you can see one of her works at the exhibition SHOW OFF at the Viennese MAK.