As her six-year shoot in Niigata, a region known for its heavy snowfall, came to an end, Nao Nakai began to feel that her next focus should be water, or perhaps the sea. Nakai traveled north, aiming for the destination of the Tsushima Current that brings snow to Niigata, and stood at Cape Soya, the northernmost point of Hokkaido where the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk meet.
As she gazed upon the rugged seascape, Nakai was reminded of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, where she was born and raised. For her as a child, Lake Biwa was something familiar yet "something that offered nothing, something that didn't allow any movement, something that didn't speak at all," like a "black hole." And, surprised by the unexpected resonance between the sea before her and Lake Biwa in the depths of her memory, Nakai decided, "I'll shoot by this sea."
Nao Nakai - Courtesy of the artist and the gallery