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EXHIBITION

The Second Stage at GG #52

Ichiyo Ikezaki, Mayuko Sato, Saeka Somei Exhibition: “whereissheus”

  • DATES : Tue. February 8 - Sat. March 19, 2022
  • HOURS : 11:00a.m.-7:00p.m.
  • Closed Sundays and holidays. Admission free.

    On entering the gallery, all visitors are requested to submit to a temperature check, sanitize their hands, wear a face mask, and maintain a social distance of 2 meters. Persons with any of the following symptoms are requested to refrain from visiting: fever (above 37.5℃), cough, sore throat, general fatigue, etc. The number of visitors allowed at one time may be limited to prevent overcrowding

The Second Stage at GG #52
Ichiyo Ikezaki, Mayuko Sato, Saeka Somei Exhibition: “whereissheus”

The 52nd exhibition in “The Second Stage at GG” series will be “whereissheus,” a show of photographic works by Ichiyo Ikezaki, Mayuko Sato and Saeka Somei. This series spotlights artists who were finalists in one of the various open competitions held by Guardian Garden to support aspiring young talents. “The Second Stage at GG” exhibitions provide a look at what those promising artists have subsequently accomplished in their chosen fields.

Ichiyo Ikezaki was a finalist in the 5th “1_WALL” Photography Exhibition in 2011 for her works on the theme of personal relationships and family. Mayuko Sato won the Grand Prize in the 14th exhibition in the series, in 2016, for her photographs expressing restless anxiety toward life. Saeka Somei was selected as a finalist in the 13th exhibition, in 2015, for her installation depicting a vacuous world.

The 52nd Second Stage at GG will be a collective exhibition of works by these three artists, who developed a strong rapport through their shared interest in photography. Their subjects are the trio themselves, portrayed mostly in portrait format: sometimes self-portraits, and other times taking turns photographing each other. Their photos were taken at places associated with their past memories: a school they attended, a park, a hotel, a nearby forest, a suburban housing development, etc. Over the course of roughly two years starting in 2019 (interrupted only during the periods of emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic), through frequent communication they came to see themselves reflected in each other, and they proceeded to prepare photographs for their joint exhibition approached from their respective perspectives.

Their photographs contain elements of role playing, with the three artists each being photographed in the role of someone else. Their photos can also be interpreted as expressing intense feelings of incongruity toward the various frameworks demanded by social norms: the roles expected of mother and father within the family, of lovers, laborers, men, women, children, adults, etc. By capturing photos blending their respective memories, shared through discussions, and taking on the roles of others, photographing at random, the end result may be a perspective of looking on in silence, with neither affirmation nor denial.


Messages from the Artists

The three of us live differently and there are age differences between us, but we have worked together, complementing each other, in planning or making decisions regarding what to photograph. This has made me think about identity, although this is my sentiment alone; we surely each have our own thoughts and approaches to photos and where we want to shoot them. This experience has made me realize once more the reality of our collection of diverse elements of equal value.

Ichiyo Ikezaki


This is a very ambiguous exhibition, I think. It’s an exhibition of three people connected through photography. As human beings, we each had different upbringings, we are of different ages, and we possess different personalities and ways of thinking. And yet, when we looked at the photos we had each taken through the years, we had a strange sensation of having known each other for a long time and being connected to each other on some deep level. Just what connects us remains unclear to me, even now after having completed our collective work. This is an exhibition of photos taken as though traveling back and forth through each other’s lives, feeling as though our individual memories and experiences are melting together, yet also sensing boundaries indicating that we are completely different human beings after all.

Mayuko Sato


In March 2021, the house I’d lived in for 15 years ceased to exist, and I began giving more thought than before to the environment I had known. The house I grew up in and its air and temperature, form, the people who had been part of its flow, trees, the living room where I last passed time with my mother. The beach I went to long ago, the classmates I likely will never see again, the colors and shapes I admired. I photographed as though taking notes.

Saeka Somei

Ichiyo Ikezaki

Graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design with a concentration in oil painting, and from L...

Mayuko Sato

Attended Kuwasawa Design School. Received the Grand Prize in the 14th “1_WALL” Photography Competiti...

Saeka Somei

Graduated from Musashino Art University with a degree in Imaging Arts and Sciences. Finalist in the ...

Organizer: Guardian Garden