“Evanescent Encounter”, Jave Yoshimoto, 2010, gouache on paper, 26″ x 40″, © 2010, courtesy of the artist
Evanescent Encounter (2010) is one of Jave Yoshimoto’s paintings that is exhibited on “Footing the Bill: Art and Our Ecological Footprint (2020)”, an online exhibition by Art Works for Change. Java Yoshimoto is an artist who was born in Japan to Chinese parents and immigrated to the United States when he was 10 years old.
Evanescent Encounter depicts a polluted sea caused by a burnt oil rig. Both human and animals in this painting look unhappy. A man cleans oil spills from the shore, a pelican can only gaze at the disaster scene, and even a Godzilla seems to feel short of breath because of the black smoke from an oil rig. Above a red sky, amongst the black-grey smoke, sort of text is written: “Where would you possibly go? I am seeking a changeless place.”
Yoshimoto’s painting stir emotions up in the beholder because of the image of disaster and environmental damaging. Oil spills cause devastating impacts both on the coastal or marine ecosystem and humans’ life. The wreck paint pouring style that is used to paint the polluted sea can express how harmful the oil spill for local habitat. This painting invites us to reflect on the impact of environmental damage because of the excessive demand for fossil fuel.
The driving force of Yoshimoto’s work is his intention to use art as social memory. In the middle of abundance information, a tragedy is often swept away by the floods of news. Tragic events are so easily forgotten. Yoshimoto brings the tragedy, especially related to disaster and environment damaging, to his work and give them an emotional touch.
Yoshimoto also often uses Godzilla in his works as a personal symbol of himself. He sees that the giant monster–Godzilla is always attacked by the locals, like him who is survived from stereotyping and racism from others in his surrounding.
Jave Yoshimoto’s works are important to today’s society since the real dangerous consequences of climate change have been increasing over the last decade. Among these harmful consequences are increasing temperature, grew of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel, seas rose, ice mass loss, and more frequent extreme weather. The dominance of the anthropocentric view that sees humans as the center of life gives significant impact on these environmental damages, as nature only valued in terms of its utility to humans.
Yoshimoto’s work addresses the great devastation of environment and inspires us to preserve our nature.
Jave Yoshimoto’s other works:
Vultures of Fragments Past
Jave Yoshimoto, 2013, gouache on paper, 26″ x 40″, © 2013, courtesy of the artist
In A New York Minute
Jave Yoshimoto, 2013, gouache and ink on paper, 26″ x 41″, © 2013, courtesy of the artist
Other works of “Footing the Bill: Art and Our Ecological Footprint” (2020) Exhibition can be seen at: https://www.artworksforchange.org/artist-galleries-ftb-part-ii/