"Re:A Prefix" Textile Exhibition - 4 Persimmons

Re: a prefix
www.textileexchangeproject.org.au

fibre & textile works from 20 Western Australia artists + 20 Japanese artists

at the Western Australian Museum – Perth 
12 November 2011 – 31 Jan 2012

EXHIBITION CURATORS: Moira Doropoulos_Anne Farren_Keiko Kawashima_Trish Little

In their memory, 2011, Louise Snook
Materials - Garments from deceased estates, cotton thread, beads.

During my early twenties I lived in Tokyo for a year, teaching English. My Japanese flat mate, Yuko and I shared a tiny apartment with a comparatively huge ceremonious shrine in memory of her dead parents.  Persimmons played a significant role in the Buddhist ritualistic offerings placed in front of the shrine. In Buddhist philosophy the persimmon is said to symbolize transformation. The young persimmon tree produces acid and bitter fruit, but the fruit becomes sweet as the tree matures. Thus the analogy is that man might be basically ignorant but with age that ignorance is transformed into wisdom and compassion.