The long stability of Japan’s national border is a historical anomaly. In Europe, for example, the borders of different countries have shifted over time, sometimes subtly, other times more drastically. Irrespective of the various concepts that shape the organization of countries – modern states, city states, empires, kingdoms, and republics – their basic operation is to divide land through the drawing of borders. These are really no more than artificial lines, redrawn by powers seeking to expand their domain or by governed peoples seeking independence. Through the accumulating memories of countless redrawn lines, the fluctuating identities of countries and communities are formed. 

              Beneath all the redrawing there are nonetheless lines that cannot be redrawn: those found in nature. The natural physical borders of seas, land masses, mountains, and valleys are the forms out of which countries and communities originally arose. The relative stability of Japan’s national border is a result of the coincidence of a natural and artificial one. Even then, it is common for such a border to fluctuate, as in the case of the European emblematic border of the Alps. The orogenic line of the Alps, dividing the European continent into North and South, intersects eight national domains: Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, France, and Monaco. Boasting the highest peak in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, it is impressive not only in its length but also in its remarkable height. Mont Blanc embodies a crossing of domains, as a frequently disputed part of the French-Italian border. The Alps are not only intersected by such ambiguous horizontal lines but also vertical ones, like the point at which alpine flora begin to grow. There is an altitude, known as the forest line, beyond which natural conditions are so harsh that forests can no longer survive, and alpine flora form an autonomous ecosystem which differs from that of other flora.   

              Taking its title from an Austrian picture book, Alpen Flora is centered on 30 new drawing works which bring together my signature motif “Quick Turn Structure” with the diverse forms of alpine flora. QTS is characterized by changes in form across mediums and domains, as well as by an indeterminate application to both gigantic and tiny scales. In its shifting between the macro and micro, its crossing of borders, and its generating of distinct fields, QTS resonates with the characteristics of the Alps and its flora. Meanwhile, this resonance also reflects the sharp and comfortable contrast between city and nature, abstraction and concreteness, organic and inorganic matter, and colour and colourness. 

Enrico Isamu Oyama

(Translation by Rosa van Hensbergen)