Natsuko Zanma - fluctuation

POETIC SCAPE is pleased to announce "fluctuation," the second solo exhibition by Natsuko Zanma, opening on March 15, 2025.
In her 2023 solo exhibition "infinity," Zanma demonstrated an approach of treating all subjects within her photographs as equal, without creating a clear focal point. Continuing to explore how she perceive the world through plants, Zanma has become increasingly aware of "something that cannot be noticed by looking at the outside (form), something that becomes visible for a moment at the end of a long exploration (Zanma's note for this exhibition)". This has led to expressions where the contours of her subjects appear to melt and lose their shape.

"If focusing means interpreting that 'I am looking here,' then my photographs are out of focus. Or, it's not that I am looking at the place that is in focus."

Zanma notes that when watching video works that focus on a person or a specific point, she tends to be drawn to the blurred background rather than the highlighted subject. In her own photography, she aims to capture subjects within a spatial and temporal breadth, including irregular fluctuations, rather than capturing a single point or moment.

Rather than focusing on a specific subject and giving it a privileged status, she questions whether there is not an irrefutable value in the blur that spreads before and after the subject. Using the medium of photography, which can only capture what is visible, she explores the existence of what is not clearly captured and the relationship between these unseen elements and the viewer.