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Artist Sakiko Ando created a small picture book in mourning for the death of a friend.
She says that the moment she learned of her death, she was overwhelmed by despair. But as she continued to think about it, after some time, she felt as if she had been embraced by something warm.
Ando wrote and drew by hand what she experienced in that moment, then bound the pages herself into a small book. This handmade, palm-sized picture book found its way to people who had experienced death closely-through the loss of someone dear to them, or of a beloved pet—and brought healing to their hearts.
In The Picture Book of Death, perhaps Sakiko Ando is telling us that "death" is not the opposite of "life," but something connected to our lives in an unbroken continuum.
Some may be reminded of the yin-yang symbol, where white and black seem to merge into one another.
Life and death may not be close to one another in any simple sense, yet at the center of the vast universe, they stay close to our prayers. The souls of the departed become countless tiny particles, surrounding us. Perhaps they are waiting to become part of life once again.
Deeply moved by Ando's text, which reflects on life and death at a profound level, six Japanese artists created paintings in response.
The original artworks for each of their own Picture Book of Death have now been completed.
From here, these original works will be made into picture books and delivered into people's hands.
Akiko Ookuni
Art Director, Wall Art Project