In 余白の美: Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space) Japanese Australian artist, Elysha Rei uses hand cut paper and principles of Japanese garden design to explore transcultural identity, family history and the silent narratives of Japanese-Australian migration experience.
Drawing upon ancestral connections to Tea Master Katagiri Sekishu, who used tea ceremony as a setting for diplomatic discussions between Samurai and enemy generals, as well as the oral histories of Rei’s Japanese war bride grandmother and Australian soldier grandfather, 余白の美: Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space) honours the gesture of peace and diplomacy between two former enemies – Australia and Japan.
Located in The Condensery’s Bomb Shelter, a space historically used to protect and store archives during World War II, Rei’s paper cutting practice of 18 years is given new context to consider the role of paper in archival processes, intergenerational legacies of racial tension and the complexities of diasporic identity.
IMAGE: ELYSHA REI, CAMELIA BONSAI (DETAIL), 2022, HAND CUT PAPER.
