'I’m looking for the beauty in something that one does not understand, continuing to exist without understanding it.' —Noguchi Rika
For her seminal series Fujiyama, Japanese artist Noguchi Rika (b. 1971) continues to climb Mount Fuji to capture its surface, atmospheric light and climbers at sunrise. Maintaining a certain distance between herself and her subjects, Noguchi creates a unique perspective that can be seen throughout this compilation of meditative views. In the lyrical tableau, offered here, a single, small silhouette appears to be disappearing into the misty horizon. This quasi-mystical presence at the centre of this ethereal landscape of muted greens evokes spiritual connotations of Mount Fuji as a sacred place. According to Noguchi, this series is ‘a work about prime numbers’ as suggested by its English title A Prime. She draws a parallel between the ongoing quest to understand the mystery behind prime numbers and her own spiritual journey that still continues. Noguchi’s work has been exhibited internationally and resides in a number of prominent institutions, notably the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, which both hold works from this series.