BELL / Eriko Koga

"BELL" is a series of works by Eriko Koga, who has been drawn to "universal things in everyday" and has entrusted them to photography, inspired by the legend of Anchin and Kiyohime " established in the Heian period (794-1185) . The legend, is one of the most widely known folktales in Japan since the ancient times, Originated over a thousand years ago, it is a tragic love story of a Buddhist monk. and The bell associated with this legend was in the temple in Kyoto where Koga lives. Eriko Koga was inspired by this legend that has emanated a compelling, the themes of love, betrayal, obsession and despair, on top of the primal concepts of life and death, and created the body of work titled BELL from 2018 to 2020. BELL" was filmed while delving the sorrow and hidden strength of the women in "The legend of Anchin and Kiyohime" to us living today. Eventually, Koga who found the perspective that "everyone is Anchin and everyone is Kiyohime," began to give a voice to the emotions and transitions of people beyond gender and the friction with society. The appearance of Kiyohime who transformed into prajna ( female demon ) " and serpent while pursuing Anchin with obsession and anger , overlapping with the sorrow, pain, and anger of people who are unable to speak out in our daily lives. and then, on "BELL", these images emreges in everyday life, grocery stores, shopping streets, and riverbanks as a stage. In this work, Koga also expanded her techniques such as staging and shooting with strobes and infrared cameras for the first time, and these approaches brought her a composition that moving through between several time spaces or several minds. Photographing this series, for her, was a journey of delving deep into ourselves living our modern lives, in order to capture a present-day interpretation of the pain and sadness that women were forced to bear as well as their inner strengths. Through this work "BELL" born from an internal dialogue with the legend and an openly intimate observation of her family and life, We will affirm the very nature of human karma, and find ourself yearning for a free, unbridled way of life, and in the process caught sight of new possibilities sprouting at our feet.