10 graduate portfolio

sayuri ichida

niversity of Westminster MA Photography Arts

Absentee In Absentee, I focus on the temporality of our existence. Centered around my body, this series is an evocative depiction of a sense of detachment, an absence from self and reality. After I lost my mother in my late teens, I shielded myself from thoughts about death. However, 15 years later, the psychological impact of the global pandemic triggered a period of grief. Creating this body of work enabled me to overcome emotional difficulties such as uncertainty and anxiety caused by the reminder of death. Our attempts to evade our own mortality are inevitably challenged, and we are forced to acknowledge our own fragility. A visceral recognition surfaces at times, reminding us of the transience of life.