Childhood

No.36 by Noriko Saito

The 36th artist room was created by artist Noriko Saito. The production is completed on September 1st, 2023.

In childhood, the blue sky seemed endless; the clouds were floating swiftly, the sun was as dry and crisp as a fried chicken, and the feeling of chasing what was in front of you.
Climbing trees, jumping, catching bugs, playing hide-and-seek, then going to the mountains to look for acorns, and when we found many, scraping them off the concrete until our fingers were all worn, making them into tops and flutes until we got bored, then playing tag. We would run around, laugh, roll around, and when we were tired of running, we would pull off some grass and eat it.
“Oh, the smell of green grass! Okay, now let’s go to the ocean!”
Time was forever… living in the here and now.
I wanted to bump it against the wall and paint it as if it were ticking away the time.
And I hope anyone who enters this room will return to their roots, come up with brilliant ideas, and spend time free-minded.
Open the drawer! It’s a roost for bugs in the ground.
The bathroom door is where a girl comes home with a fish after lots of fun.
Then it’s golden bathroom time. You can almost smell the daytime sun through the trees…

Room #3405 | Completion Date: 2023.09

Artist's Message

When I was little, there was a shipyard near my house, and I used to bring iron junk and bricks from the scrap yard to build my dream robots by scratching them with nails. I also did some fishing, ran around, and played until I was exhausted.
Always, somewhere in my mind, I thought the stars were neat, pentagonal, flimsy, and sparkly, sticking up in the sky, and it wasn’t until my teacher pointed it out to me at age 17 that I felt I understood the world of space and stars.
I remember that was the moment when I had a flash of awakening.

My works are mainly created by scratching a copper plate with a needle. I draw everyday life under the title “Life Series.”
There is something extraordinary in the sense that it seems free. Something is always happening in the world, even though it looks happy. It is changing rapidly, is not equal, there is no answer, and there is always a war somewhere. I try to depict these uncontrollable things by searching for words and the person’s roots at that time and breaking them down in my mind.
It’s like a streak, a little humor, and freedom to be who you are, whatever the situation.
The Harvard University Art Museums purchased several works of the Life series and a few others and held an exhibition and workshop there.

Childhood

Artist's Message

“Infinite Time and Space Amid Cognizant Japanese Beauty”