Lichen Likelihood

I was born by the ocean, in a small countryside town in southern Japan. 

The ocean and the beach were my playground throughout my childhood, and it remained the same when I moved to the West coast of Canada and lived on the islands.

In the Summer of 2010, I flew from Montreal, where I resided then, to Dawson City to participate in the KIAC Artist-in-Residence Program and stayed there for about 1 month. Dawson City was the most northern place I had ever visited and the mountainous scenery of nearby parks were fascinating. The alpine tundra in particular was a very new environment to me. I made countless hikes and visits to nearby forests and the ‘dump’ in order to collect materials for the installation at ODD Gallery. 

In one of those explorations, I encountered the variety of lichen called Arctic finger lichen (Dactylina arctica) on Ninth Avenue Trail. The first thought that came to my mind when I saw this small yellowish finger-like lichen was “seaweed!”. They looked so much like the vesicles of Rockweed (Fucus vesiculosus) that are commonly found in coastal BC. The resemblance struck me with an acute realization, that no matter what environment a lifeform is in, it will figure out the best way to survive, and may end up looking very similar to another, like the Arctic finger lichen in the highlands and the Rockweed on the beach. My thoughts then wondered around the eternal themes of evolution and will in the survival of these tiny plants. I was deeply moved by them and wanted to bow down to cry on the warm ground in the arctic summer.

It is my pleasure to finally open up my ‘Dawson City memorabilia box’ to work on a piece 10 years later, utilizing lichens and moose poops I collected during the stay, and combine them with various materials I have gathered all over Canada. On this revolving miniature landscape, there are no borders between mountain and ocean, fresh or decayed, natural or man-made. They are all there for one reason: to survive, and live well.