Year: 2020
Medium: oil, oil stick, acrylic, gouache, modeling paste, pastel, ink, color powder, scenic lichen, sand, oil varnish, FRP, printed matter, film, cardboard, thin paper, packing paper, cotton cloth, cheesecloth, guitar string, wire, cotton yarn, marble, pebble, metal and wood on wooden panel
Dimensions: 100 x 70 x 12 cm (39 3/8 x 27 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.)
Acquired from TAKE NINAGAWA, 2022
A multilayered and heavy-textured work reminiscent of the series "BLDG." that Ohtake used to work on. This is one of the works from the "Mnemoscape" series, created while confronting himself once again during the Covid-19 pandemic. Overlays of rich colors and materials are superimposed excessively to form a dense mass in dark brown color. As the viewer looks closely at the work, cloth, paper, sand, stones, sticks, wire-like objects of diversified textures and compositions are harmoniously blended into the heavy painting. The memory that Ohtake refers to is closely related to the layering of time. The memories of each individual are accumulated, time passes through and connects them in all directions. The passage of time refers to memories that have been accumulated accordingly, which Ohtake transforms it into a multilayered painting. However, Ohtake does not express this in an excessive manner. If this work gives the impression of being excessively compacted, it is because our memories and time are a tremendous collection of information by nature. As Ohtake himself once remarked, the "Mnemoscape" series, which includes this work, as "the scenery that remains at the end of memory". He attempts to visualize the result of this enormous amount of accumulation, an expression that ordinary people cannot even imagine.
