Light and shadow inside me

“This series features gradations created by allowing bright green water-based dye to fade in a very specific way.
First, the dye is applied to a sheet of paper. The sheet is then folded into a prism, which is exposed to the sun over a period of weeks or months. The faces on the prism that receive the most sunlight fade dramatically, while those that remained largely in shadow remain a vivid green. The paper is then unfolded to reveal the finished gradation.
As the title hints, it is the prisms themselves that create the shadows, but the factors that cause the resulting gradations are not easy to imagine when the sheet of paper is unfolded and displayed as a flat work. This series is a pointed reminder that our way of comprehending existence unavoidably becomes multifaceted through environment and circumstance.”

“Light and shadow inside me is a signature series of two-dimensional works by Kangawa. In the original green works, paper is coated on one side with water-based dye, folded and fixed to form a polygonal prism, and exposed to sunlight for several weeks. Each face of the prism receives a different amount of sunlight depending on the direction of the sun’s rays, resulting in some areas fading faster than others to form a gradation of color. The fading process can be described as a “progression” in the sense that the dye changes color, or a “regression” in the sense that it brings the paper back to its original color. Furthermore, in their use of sun exposure, works from this series can be considered both paintings and photographs. The understated works, created with only their own light and shadows, offer a new perspective on the relationships between light and shadow, subject and medium, painting and photography, and beginning and end.”

Light and shadow inside me

“Light and shadow inside me is a signature series of two-dimensional works by Kangawa. For its black-and-white variations, whole sheets of silver halide photographic paper (*1) are folded into polygonal prisms, then taken into a massive darkroom and directly exposed under light for several seconds. (*2) The understated works, created with only their own light and shadows, offer a new perspective on the relationships between light and shadow, subject and medium, painting and photography, and beginning and end. Due to their distinct materiality and monumental size, the works are more than just ordinary photographs—in fact, they generate an imposing presence akin to paintings.”