Jessica Richardson

The Kioku Herbarium: An Archive for Joyful Sorrows and Remembered Hopes

There was once I time I could see what you see. I did not think that one day, my fading memories would mean so much. But as my fingers gently caress the fallen petals, I see them. They are young and soft. Their fragrance dances in the spring breeze. I do not know what colour they are. Perhaps they are blushing like the morning Kakuregan sky. Or maybe they are a fading yellow. It does not matter, for I can imagine their soft velvet in any colour.

There was once I time I could see what you see.

But I will not forget.

The Kioku (Memory) Herbarium offers a repose for the visually-impaired creatives of Kakurega. In translating the fear of losing one’s sight through the principles of ikebana (traditional Japanese flower arrangement) it seeks to find beauty within life’s impermanence. A central memoriam and preservation chamber, offers users a means of remembering. This heaviness is complimented by a lightweight frame, which manifests itself as part of both the interior and exterior. It is this tension between fragility and mass which speaks to the ephemeral notions of memory and time, both of which are heightened as one loses their sight.

Through a sequence of spaces, marked by distinct phenomenological experiences and contradictory programmatic tensions, the user actively transitions between remembering and hopeful acceptance. It is here that this project seeks to find joy and appreciation in a life that, for so long, others have deemed tragic.