Artist Statement - Mariko Suzuki-Bertocci
My art practices focus on past moments that never come back and sentimental feelings towards them. Sentimentality is such a gentle feeling, and it resonates across different cultures, places, and times. I want to share this feeling with viewers and find out universal connection, especially in this world that is heading towards collapse.
Time passing is painful. The atmosphere, words, smells of the seasons and small everyday familiar objects.. I want to rebuild the scenery that combines all those things and add new emotions, unseen dreams into it.
I want to pursue universal sentimental nostalgia through my personal memories and experience. When the viewer feels empathy with my art work, my personal story becomes theirs too, and that is a real connection. That is the start of the conversation, with gentle feelings.
I often use natural elements mainly to represent “wabi-sabi”— appreciating beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete in nature. To capture my transient but important moments promises turning them into layers of forever memories.