To describe how being old is, we cannot use fair words such as “beautiful,” neither sorrowful words as “ugly.” It is not easy to say that “being old is enriching your life.” I, however, want to see the future beyond being old, which becomes visible only when a person recognizes the end of his life, to make it realized the final beauty of “being old beautifully and ending richly.”
—Takakita Yukiya
Takakita Yukiya, a well-known graphic designer who has been involved with creating highly socially valuable designs such as a sign system in urban environment, has been practicing installation art since 2012.
His original motivation to step into the world of installation art was triggered by a dream of fallen camellia flowers which he saw about 15 years ago. In his dream, the countless deep-red flowers covering the whole ground were still radiant with the energy of life. He then wondered whether he was looking at the camellia or the camellia was the one who was looking at him — he still remembers even the intense scent of those flowers. He cast the image of himself on those dead, yet still blooming camellia flowers and found “the power to live and the beauty of it.”
In this installation, the finely curved camellia flowers represent the dichotomy of nature which exists in his mind: light and shadow, yin and yang, beauty and ugliness, and life and death, those which illuminate and compensate to each other and then sublimate themselves into the beauty of the end. Come and witness the evolution of Takakita who seeks for final beauty.