HYAKKIYAKO

The title and theme of these paintings are a reference to the Hyakkiyako and Tsukumogami scrolls from the Muromachi and Edo periods of Japan. There is an old Japanese belief that household objects that have been used for over a century develop spirits and become animisms reffered to as Tsukumogami. They often appear in the dark of night to play tricks on humans, with the occasional offering of a helping hand. Hyakkiyako, directly translated to "night parade of a hundred demons," is the parade of Tsukumogami spirits alongside Yokai demons of Japanese folklore. In these four paintings, I replaced the imagery of demons or monsters with small ghostly feminine figures, taking similar poses to the original scrolls, but carrying and embodying a blend of old and modern household objects (such as a bento box or rice cooker). In the wasteful world that we live in today, I imagine what it would be like to use household objects with such care that they last well beyond our lifetimes, enough to develop a spirit, and what their existence would be if Tsukumogami still had a place to exist in today's society.