"Hokadama Nage"


2023

Installation - Cement carvings, sand, straw

Inspired by the Shinto ritual (Yakuwaridama), "Hokadama Nage" is built around casting one's negative thoughts and feelings of "othering" and "otherness" away. Participants make balls out of sand, and throw them against the carved slabs, with intentions to cast away feelings and thoughts around being an "other" or "othering" others. Each slab has a different symbol (symbols from Hokano-ke dou) carved onto its surface, each containing different meanings, all synonymous to "other". (Refer to publication found on page of Hokano-ke dou for further explanations of each symbol)

saya hirayama 






Installation view of Chelsea College of Art and Design, BA Fine Art Degree show 2023




This section is a display where viewers are introduced to my fictional folklore. The straw crown is symbolic of the presence of deities and spirits. The four bundles of straw are offerings for the four deities of Hokano-ke Dou. The displayed booklets are guides to the Hokano-ke dou folklore, exploring the meanings of the carved symbols, the deities and spirits that exist in this world, and of personal context.