Lynn H_ICA Museum

I chose to reflect upon the Chiho Aoshima mural “The Divine Gas.” Aoshima was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974, where she currently lives and works. The mural is made from digital drawings and inkjet printing on adhesive vinyl strips. The sheer size of the piece is breath taking. I previewed the piece on the Internet and it in no way does the mural justice. The mural, a staggering 26 ft. 2 in. x 40 ft 1 in., is overwhelming as it is positioned in the museum so it can be viewed upon entering the building.
I love the colors Aoshima opted to use, and I feel they are appropriate for the piece. The sharp defined lines in the foreground pop against the soft blended hodgepodge of colors in the background. The lush landscape that the girl is laying in evokes a sense of serenity and peacefulness. Then, the mood changes with the billowing cloud that comes from the girl’s bottom. The girl’s flowing hair gives the viewer direction in viewing the piece. I found myself following the long strands to various other portions of the piece. The hair led me to the frolicking couple, to the trees and landscape, to the rainbow, and to the entire scene in the clouds. The light colors contrast with the dark colors and create a theme of light and dark or good and evil.
Aoshima’s mural shares many aspects with some of her other pieces. The physical characteristics of the girl are similar to that of other characters within Aoshima. What I found most intriguing was surprisingly not the cloud coming from the girl’s bottom, but instead was her face. Her facial expression presents a sense of innocence in the girl. Also, her eyes are quite detailed and have small scenes within them. Each eye has a city scene within; one portrays the night and the other, the day. This incredible use of detail impressed me a great deal.
The mural relates to gender identity in such that it presents the young female figure as being the stereotypical innocent young woman. Also the girl is nude and is only covered due to the position of her body and her hair. I feel the piece is very cleverly and appropriately titled “The Divine Gas.” I really enjoyed this piece for several reasons. First the vivid colors caught my eye. Then, I looked more closely at the piece and saw where that cloud was coming from, and I admit I laughed a little. Finally, the mural has so much going on at once and so much attention was paid to detail by the artist that it held my interest for a long time, longer than most pieces usually do. Because the mural is so large I was able to thoroughly focus on one section at a time, yet also view the piece as a whole.