Headspace in Japan

On Wednesday, the 8th of August, I'm flying to Japan where I'll be spending time in an artist residency that's called Headspace.






HEADSPACE...
Room for thoughts and reflection. A refuge or spot to rest your head. The space your head occupies or fits in to.


A couple of years ago, I made a painting that I titled "headspace". The image is of a man, under a small fruitless orange tree, with his head hidden in the leaves.
I've made lots of drawings that play with the same, or similar, image and idea; but this small painting is the only piece I've titled and exhibited.
I can see direct and indirect links between this painting and other projects I've done - of fitting things in, masking parts of the image, ambiguity and open narratives - but I'm not sure what's at the core of them. What captured me in the first place? What am I trying to express? I hope that over the next few weeks, I'll have the time and space to explore and readdress these types of questions.

So here I am, setting off on a Japenese adventure with the word "headspace" in mind. I'm excited about everything I'll see and do in Japan and interested in how it will inspire and affect what I make during the residency in Kayamori House. I'm looking forward to experience Japanese culture and learn more about Japanese asthetics first hand.

I plan on using "headspace" and all the meanings I interpret from the word as a loose starting point. I feel like it's suficiently open and grounded and I think it will provide me with some sort of guidance in my first days there.