Description
On the Other Side of Touch presents a poem written by the artist translated into Japanese. The characters are made of cast paper and installed on the wall. The poem reads:
手が触っているのとは別の側の
言葉の影で
昔の詩が待っている
[Original English version]
On the other side of touch
in the shadow of words
an old poem waits.
Statement
On the Other Side of Touch is one of a series of poetry works created during a Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec research and creation residency in Tokyo. Exploring poetry and calligraphy and their relationship to paper, as well as various techniques for manipulating paper, such as Shifu (making a thread from a page of paper) were the focus of the residency.
The poem was translated from French into Japanese by Masashi Ogura. Through moulding techniques, the words of the poems take physical form in paper – washi made from kozo, the main plant used to produce handmade paper in Japan.
Karen Trask, 2014