Dodog

Human and plant biological motifs are often equidistant in Sakura’s visual profiles, the artist meditating on his subjects for long periods both before and during the process of creation, each print made through delicate and intricately laced lines etched methodically into the printing plate. As such, “Dodog” is an image fortified with the existential weight of such a meditative process, and finds a profound beauty loaded with a creeping sense of tension from his subject matter; one of a series of works based on individuals the artist has met or is close to. The mouth of this figure stretches and combines in layers to suggest the petals of a fleshy flower, the curl of the lips particularly reminiscent of carnivorous pitcher plantlife, or the exotic shape of an orchid.