Six questions for
Moe Suzuki

How do you describe your own art practice?

I primarily work in photography, which is mixed with archival images, illustrations, and films. At the same time, I always think about how to tell the story in a photobook; its sequences, editing, paper, printing, and binding methods are all part of my work, and in total I try to tell the narrative in depth. My exhibition installation ideas often develop from the photobooks as well.

Which question or theme is central in your work?

I have been working with storytelling on the subject of memories and landscapes that transform with the passage of time, changes in environment, urban development, disability, and relationships within the community. I am always drawn to something easy to dismiss or often invisible in society.

What was your first experience with art?

I was taken to Joan Miro’s exhibition in Tokyo by my mom and lost her in the crowds at the age of 3 or 4, which I can still visualise in very fine detail. Otherwise, I was always surrounded by those who create: my mother as a potter, my grandfather as a Japanese calligrapher and my aunt as an illustrator.

What is your greatest source of inspiration?

The storylines, editing, and designs of photobooks and books in general.

What do you need in order to create your work?

Research, keep journals, and present the work to others in each different stage of the project to get feedback. Also, both official and easy-going presentations of the work in progress greatly help me to organise messy ideas and concepts in my head. And above all, I create, dismantle, edit and recreate them again and again.

What work or artist has most recently surprised you?

Rihannon Adam ‘Big Fence’

Sara Skorgan Teigen ‘Sleeping State of Being’

Hajime Kimura’s projects in general.