Mono no Aware - The poignant sadness of impermanent things (2023)
Rêverie #1, de la série Mono no Aware - The poignant sadness of impermanent things, 2023
We dedicate a large part of our lives to organizing our schedules and contemplating our future. Yet, our human condition compels us to live solely in the present moment. Only this moment exists; the past is merely a memory recorded by our minds, and the future is but a projection of our thoughts. Often, we are so stressed about missing out on our hypothetical future that we forget to look around us, even for a moment.
However, we all experience those moments when, unexpectedly, we are suddenly captivated by a scene of indescribable beauty that nature presents to us. Then, the moment disappears as quickly as it appeared, and everything is already over. In Japanese, there is a term to define the beauty of fleeting moments we experience, "Mono no Aware" (物の哀れ).
Through The Poignant Sadness of Impermanent Things, I appropriate the genres of landscape and portrait to offer my own interpretation of Mono no Aware, as I have experienced it repeatedly in my life. Like poetic memento mori, these moments remind me of the profoundly ephemeral nature of all things and allow me to find grounding when my mind is caught in a whirlwind of incessant thoughts.
Rêverie #3, de la série Mono no Aware - The poignant sadness of impermanent things, 2023
Rêverie #2, de la série Mono no Aware - The poignant sadness of impermanent things, 2023
Rêverie #4, de la série Mono no Aware - The poignant sadness of impermanent things, 2023