contemporary Japanese art

YUIKO RÁYKA Exhibition "SOUL GEMS META"

NOV 17 Thu - 21 Mon, 2022

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One of YUKIO RÁYKA's series of works is called "Soul Gems" (2015-current). This series focuses on the relationship between our soul beings and the universe. Each of our souls is the universe itself, resonating with each other, existing in harmony within this great universe.

In the past, the artist has developed this series of works as physical installations, but in this project, "SOUL GEMS META," she will express this worldview in a new way using the Metaverse, VR, and NFTs.

The artist develops similarities in the structures of  "souls and us humans" and "the core of the work and the medium of expression" and attempts to present them from the perspective of "evolution" through this work.

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  In this exhibition, viewers will experience the World of Souls created in the metaverse (virtual world) through VR.
The definition and interpretation of the World of Souls differs depending on country, region, religion, and era. My interpretation, based on my own experience, is that the World of Souls is an interdimensional world that exists parallel to our physical dimension. The souls that exist in that world, are the core of us human beings. Our souls evolve and grow through our experiences as humans on Earth, that is, the physical dimension (or as other beings in other dimensional worlds).

​The Corona Pandemic has brought many changes to us. In terms of exhibiting artworks, there are more opportunities and demands for exhibitions in virtual galleries and metaverses, and now that the peak of the pandemic has eased, people are considering having virtual exhibitions more than before. I interpret this phenomenon as the fact that we can now choose "dimension" not only as a place to exhibit our works, but also as an element to construct the concept of our works, or as a means of output, i.e., technique, material, or media.

  In my previous "Soul Gems" series, I had expressed the concept of the World of Souls, a world of different dimensions, by putting it into the physical dimension. This time, however, in SOUL GEMS META , by using the Metaverse as the output dimension, it became possible to express a different aspect than the expression through the physical method. For example, that the World of Souls always exists in another dimension parallel to the physical dimension. That we can meet there beyond time and distance. The world of Souls is made up of digital elements which are called "SOUL GEMS", by releasing them into the blockchain world as NFTs, I will attempt to approach the expression of the story of souls, such as the connection between souls, history, and evolution. By expanding the non-physical realm multi-dimensionally, the range of expression will also expand.

Alongside the Corona Pandemic, new technologies and media (e.g. Metaverse, XR, NFT and AI) have developed rapidly in recent years and will continue to accelerate in the future. Three years from now, the concept of media itself may have changed. Therefore, what I am looking forward to is how I will update this work at that time. It may be an update on the same media, or it may be a transfer to a different technology (in fact, this work has already been transferred from the physical method to the current method). Even if the expression changes, the core of my "Soul Gems" series is the universal concept of "souls". I present that artworks are no longer limited by the media, and  can be changed lightly with the changing times.  My "Soul Gems" series will engrave many different ways of expression in its history. In my point of view, there are similarities in the structures of "souls and us humans" and "the core of the work and the medium of expression".  When the core of artwork, that is, the concept, is nurtured by the output, it is like the growth and evolution of the soul, and the renewal of the medium of expression is the transformation that embodies the development of the concept. We human beings, too, have changed our bodies many times over the years, with our souls as the core, and we are here now.  This gives me a sense of the future of the work and of art as a whole.
My and the project’s aspiration is that even after I leave this world and return to the world of the soul, the project will be passed on to someone else over the ages. Artworks evolve, by riding the waves of change. As do we humans and our souls.

Yuiko Ráyka

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