OMAMORI - 湯浅景子 KEIKO YUASA
195mm × 135mm × 15mm 128 pages, hardcover, offset print
1st Edition of 1000
Publication date: February 2023
Published by Elvis Press
A collection of works by Keiko Yuasa, a painter who creates works with a unique matiere by scratching pictures with a needle over layers of painted colors.
When the cover is removed, a picture of an origami crane stamped with gold foil is revealed. At the end of the book is an amulet, a cutout of one of the original paintings, with the artist’s signature.
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Since ancient times, people all over the world have been making and carrying “omamori”= amulets. The forms of omamori vary widely, from religious objects such as sacred beads, dolls, stones, ornaments, and money, to sometimes ordinary daily necessities that have special meaning and are held as “omamori” to bring good luck or to provide a place of peace and tranquility. It seems to me that this act is a very human activity.
In this work, I depicted accessories that I myself wear as “omamori,” letters and medicine bottles that I carry around, as well as objects that people have made in their daily lives to wish for comfort, peace and protection from evil, such as back charms, origami cranes and sacred straw ropes, while overlapping these thoughts and prayers.
As I drew these objects, I realised that the act of drawing itself was the best “omamori” for me.
Hopefully, I will be happy if this collection of works will be a “omamori” for someone.
Keiko Yuasa）
