Maria Murayama “Stuffed Animals”

Gallery Sokyo

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Maria Murayama is an artist who has great control over the techniques employed in the ceramic arts and utilizes these techniques to create sculptures. The “Stuffed animals” series was started in 2015, and its main motif is animals. The most important characteristic of these pieces is that they do not just portray animals; they are created by fusing the animal with the pedestal that supports it (made of the same material). This series lends a strong feeling of the artist’s gaze at the stuffed animals, whose purpose is to occupy the sphere of daily life in a similar manner to cups or saucers. Even though the animals were modeled after stuffed versions, their forms seem strangely alive. The animals seem to emulate a reversal of the continuity of life—moving from death to life—which is essentially irreversible, by being stuffed and placed in living areas after they are dead. In a similar manner, these works are given life once again by being on the verge of death. Besides their presence in artistic and living spaces, Murayama’s works definitely exist in the space between life and death. This is similar to the process of making ceramics, in which new pieces are created by firing them in flames—an adroit association with death. The animals were destined to originate from the tangle of death and life that cannot be separated, and they are suspended in the space between life and death in appearing to move while being fixed to their pedestals.