REVERBERATION

The Mass presents, ‘REVERBERATION,’ an exhibition of new works by the artist duo Nerhol. In this exhibition, the duo will present new works centred around the theme of naturalised plants, a subject matter which they have been consistently working on in recent years. Nerhol consists of Ryuta Iida and Yoshihisa Tanaka, and their work is a fusion of their respective crafts; Iida, who carves and sculpts, and Tanaka, who works with paper and two- dimensional compositions. In their practice, the pair physically build up a series of photographs of a particular motif and sculpt them into a single piece. The resulting work speaks to the multilayered moments of time contained within it. Their attempts to work against the layers of time and history contained in the photographs have resulted in works of art that take on new physical forms and visual aesthetics that are entirely unique.
The naturalised plants that form the theme of Nerhol's work in this exhibition are plants that have been transported from their original native habitat to other regions due to various factors, including human activities, and have eventually become wild in these new areas. Contained within these plants is an existing history, something that transported them, or the human actions that created the cause and eect. It is these intrinsic concepts of time and history and the intervention and intertwining of various factors that are the underlying essential concepts of Nerhol's work.
In all of Nerhol's works, the accumulation of time has been replaced by layers of paper, and through the sculpting of them, reveals the "something" contained within. Iida's physicality and Tanaka's thoughtfulness accompany the work, and the density of it has been heightened by their repeated acts of 'dialogue' that the two of them repeatedly engage in. For the two artists, the act of 'dialogue' is already an intrinsic part of their practice, and is in fact, at the very heart of it.
The naturalised plants shown in this exhibition are part of an ongoing series that Nerhol has been working on for the past few years, and is a body of work that reminds us of the things we normally see without thinking, and provides us time to look again and reassess. Naturalised plants have historically survived on a completely dierent time scale from our own and are full of vitality and adaptability to their environment, proving they are both resilient and beautiful.
Both a photograph and a sculpture.
Both a moment and a history.
Nerhol's work exists at the intersection of these elements and is full of questions and challenges, dealing with universal themes while constantly seeking new forms of expression. It is an act of approaching the essence of art itself. Nerhol's art is a form of dialogue that requires #lexibility, diversity and understanding of others; an important act within today’s society.