Toru Otani
Number and arrangement (snakes, flowers and poppy seed pods)
2024
Silkscreen print on sandpaper
28 x 23 cm
Edition of 12 copies (all unique) numbered and signed by the artist on a certificate, plus 2 Artist’s Proofs
This edition consists of a series of twelve unique pieces produced on the backside of sheets of sandpaper, one of Toru Otani’s iconic materials. Each of the works features motives that are also representative of the artist’s visual universe: a snake, a flower, and a poppy pod, highly stylized elements that suggest mythological, dreamlike, or hallucinatory narratives.
They appear in different configurations, depending on the random distribution of the readymade marks on each sheet of the sandpaper. The rest of the surface is otherwise left raw, as if in the process of being covered.
More than just formal variations on a theme, the ensemble offers a valuable insight into the artist’s working process, into how he takes advantage of the singularity of each medium. In short, into how a work can emerge from the material itself, seemingly on its own.
Toru Otani's exhibition took place at Shūrinkan from May 11 to October 5, 2024.