For many years, Ai Iwane has been drawn to ancient rituals, and to visualizing traces of the past. In her last series, ‘Kipuka’, as well as in this new “A New River’ which features cherry blossoms and the traditional native ‘Mai’ dance, Iwane uses mesmerizing colors and transparency to render the layers of history into the present, producing fantasies from the real world, what Cartier-Bresson called ‘L'Imaginaire d'après nature’. As she put it, walking through the cherry blossom trees, “the borders between the realms of nature and humans became blurred”. Iwane’s photographs transport us to an unknown and otherworldly dimension, that possesses the magical beauty of the Northern Aurora Borealis. In addition to photography, Ai Iwane uses film and projections to delve deeper into her stories, and to convey them to her audience in a highly sensorial way.
‘A New River’ is an enchanted and luminous journey to the north of Japan, a visit to the reassuring and sturdy presence of the cherry blossom trees in the heart of the pandemic. Through photographs and words, Ai Iwane shares her deep connection to nature, and to ancestral rites and beliefs.