About the artwork

The artist created portraits of people of the village of Hachi, calling them “The New-type of Storehouse.” The artist lived in the village for 11 weeks. During that time, she saw the models for her portraits at work and visited their rice paddies, vegetable fields and houses. She also heard their life stories, thoughts and philosophy. These experiences breathed life into the portraits and led her to create “The Living Storehouse of Hachi.” After the completion of the works, she held a party for the local people, and they sang a school song for her.