Some words can evoke powerful images, values and stereotypes that have crept into our subconsciousness to sometimes dictate the way we think or behave. For Ruri Clarkson, this is something that needs to be challenged in Japan, and which she does herself with art.
Clarkson explores the impact of words associated with women and their roles in contemporary Japanese society. Her upcoming exhibition in Tokyo, "Imposing words — Contemporary family matters," will showcase around 10 works that, at first glance, look like traditional embroidered doilies. Featured at the center of each of her pieces, however, are Japanese terms that are not only used in relation to women but also reveal something about Japanese views of women. They are not phrases you'd expect to be used as motifs for decorative mats.
"負け犬 (makeinu)" translates as "loser dogs," and is used in reference to unmarried women. "婚活 (konkatsu)" means "marriage hunt," again stressing the perceived importance of marriage for women in Japan.
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