Where does the parallel world exist? by Mari Ishikawa at Jewelers Werk Galerie

Artist list

Mari Ishikawa

Her chief inspiration seems to be nature. She experiences nature with all her senses; she is wholly open to the smallest details, discerning and interpreting the aesthetic of things. Her notion is that we are moving in a parallel world which constantly surrounds us but which no one notices in the daily grind. Mari Ishikawa asks: ‘Where does a paralel world exist? Can one discover such a world through time travel? Is it perhaps possible to see such a world in a dream? Or does it only exist in one’s heart? The world we see is only a part of the entire reality which is composed of many worlds existing simultaneously, side by side. We can find a parallel world whenever we open our eyes and hearts. It is always with us.’
 
In her jewellery Mari Ishikawa overcomes the transience of nature by collecting natural elements: leaves, blossoms, pieces of bark. Employing the technique of natural casting, she casts the pieces in metal, usually silver. The object being cast is coated in a thin layer of wax and then encased in a plaster mould. The resulting mould is heated, whereupon the wax and the vegetation flow out, leaving behind a mould cavity in the jacket of plaster. The plaster mould sets hard in the fire and then serves as a casting mould. Now the liquid metal, often silver, can be pured in. Once the metal has solidified, the plaster mould is smashed and discarded. The cast blank is now ready for fine machining and finishing.

Apart from jewellery Mari Ishikawa is interested in photography. She seeks out places exposed to different lighting conditions and captures the changing natural details in her photographs.  She is particularly fascinated by moonlight, which makes things appear completely different. Photography reaches a further dimension of the visible. Long exposures reveal what the human eye cannot see, and we ask ourselves: Is this the paralel world?