I chose to have these shisa’s shown broken but coming back together in a kintsugi style repair, but not fully complete. Kintsugi is the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with lacquer that has gold or silver in it to highlight the embracing
of imperfections, and the creation of something even stronger. This is to show the guardians failure at protecting my family from the struggles they endured during their move to Canada, where they experienced harsh working
conditions and were placed in Japanese internment camps. Hence, the shisas are placed on top of the combination of the nations’ flags.
The brokenness of the statues also represents my own identity and my struggle with my own demons, showing the inability to protect myself as I learned to navigate life with a mental illness: bipolar II disorder. This is significant as this is a struggle
within my own body, a place I should be safe and at home in. The colours I chose to paint the statues reflect this disorder and my demons by having one painted in dark, heavy tones to represent the lowest pats of my illness,
and the other painted with light, airy colours to represent the highest parts of my illness. Both of the colours are placed chaotically on the statues as both of these highs and lows are not a necessarily pleasant or uniform
thing, often causing a significant amount of chaos in my mind.
I am learning.
We are mending.
This is my home.
I am home.