地蔵建立 / Jizoing

旅先の世界各地で、その風景を小さな手製の地蔵とともに写真に収めていくシリーズが《地蔵建立》である。初期には粘土を使った手作りの地蔵が据えられたが、やがて地蔵が描かれた紙片が風景に重ね合わされ、さらには地面、建物にも直接描きつけられるようになった。地蔵の造形そのものは簡略化の過程を経て、アイコンと化し、それぞれの地域や風景にとけ込みながら、作家の移動の軌跡を記しつづける。地蔵を通じ小沢の視線は、時には歴史的な出来事の舞台を横断し、あるいは、ざわめく都市から辺境の地に至る人々の日常に紛れ込む。いかなる場所いかなる状況にあっても、作品は一様に、日暮れ間際の空をイメージした深い青みを帯びた色調の風景として再現されている。移動をつづける作家の視点を代替するかのように、地蔵は様々な土地での人々の営みを見つめ続ける存在として、密やかにではあるが超然と佇んでいる。

 

The Jizoing project is a series that involves taking photos of a handmade Jizo (a small statue of a Japanese bodhisattva) in various locations around the world. Initially a Jizo made out of clay was used, although afterward scraps of paper on which Jizo have been drawn have been held up in front of the locations concerned and in some cases Jizo drawn directly on the ground or on buildings. The Jizo themselves have undergone a process of simplification and turned into icons that blend into each location or scene, the photos tracing the movements of the artist as he continues to travel the world. Through the Jizo, Ozawa occasionally directs his gaze across the setting of some major historical event, while at other times it gets lost in the everyday lives of people everywhere, from teaming cities to sparsely populated remote areas. Regardless of the location or circumstances, Ozawa always endeavors to recreate the scene in question as a landscape tinged with a deep blue color reminiscent of the color of the sky at twilight. The Jizo are unobtrusive yet stand aloof, continuing to watch over the activities of people everywhere as a landscape tinged with a deep blue color reminiscent of the color of the sky at twilight. The Jizo are unobtrusive yet stand aloof, continuing to watch over the activities of people everywhere as a stand-in for the artist who is always on the move.