Have you ever come to a place where you meet yourself in ways that can not be described in words? A place that is so far away from where you are coming from, but closer than all the other places you have been before. It just seems to be the space for you. One step through that door and you open all kinds of windows. Fresh air is coming in..
There in that space you find the best teacher you have ever had. He is not giving you an easy lesson, but it brings out the best in you. A taste of ultimate happiness comes along, but deep sorrow as well. This misfortune might scare you off, but it won’t stop you from wanting to come back. Once being dipped in this world, it seems to start breathing through the pores of your skin. And you know that if you don’t acknowledge and explore this part of your path, you can live a happy life, but you will never reach your destiny. What to do then is gather all the strength you’ve got, take a deep sigh and be brave enough to start walking. Walking the path that seems to be meant for you.
Of course, instead of what I just wrote, I can sum up all things I find beautiful in this place. But these lines above are as honest as can be and therefor the only right answer to the question what Japan means to me.
And to my teacher, my champion, my fellow artist, my friend for life and eternity I would like to say: “Thank you for seeing me, thank you for believing in me and thank you for showing me the way.
Diana van der Harst is a multidisciplinary artist whose journey has resulted in the creation of an ever evolving Leftover Universe where Tender Time Sighs. While she has a focus on textile art, she also uses painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, photography and writing to seek and tell her story. Her creations originate from a meeting between inner and outer travels, from studying things up-close to things far away, from observing the small to observing the vast; a process of constantly shifting focus, a movement much like breathing. Tender Time Sighs; breathing life into a Leftover Universe, showing us traces of transformation and encounters with animate and inanimate beings. Drawing from her own experiences, inspired by life itself, characters have developed who share their meetings and findings along the way. Diana’s work is poetic, contemporary, intuitive, contemplative, intimate, emotional, whimsical, spiritual, narrative and embodies a magical realism.
Diana was born and raised in The Netherlands before she moved to Australia. It is in The Netherlands where Diana had her main art education and where she started exhibiting her works back in 2004. During a masterclass in textile design in The Netherlands in 2007 she was invited to exhibit her art in Tokyo, Japan. Since that exhibition she had 4 solo exhibitions and several work periods in Kyoto, Japan. Exhibiting for nearly 20 years now she showed her works in The Netherlands, Antwerp/Belgium, Melbourne, Perth, Tokyo and Kyoto/Japan. Diana is now focusing on her upcoming solo exhibition, during which she will be giving workshops as well as undertake an artist-in-residency. She is one of the participating artists in her community that opens up her home studio for the public to come and visit, an initiative that is held two weekends a year as part of an Art Trail. Several other projects are in development and she is open for commissions.
Email: leftoveruniverse@gmail.com | Website: http://www.leftoveruniverse.com | Instagram: dhyana_in_a_leftover_universe
Leftover Universe 