Mantra

I constructed Mantra following a memorable cultural trip to Japan in 2017. After my return, I was in daily correspondence with a Japanese woman I met in Nagoya and Tokyo, and was able to continue a discussion with her about daily life in Japan. Specifically two things: I learned of a Japanese department store J.R Takashimaya with a branch in Nagoya. I looked online at their website, and noticed that all the text describing items for sale had been oddly-translated from Japanese to English. In particular, I saw that J.R. Takshimaya were advertising a woman's business suit, the description of which read 'We cope in beautiful silhouette formally'. Wonderful description to match the social heirarchy in the Japanese workplace. I asked my correspondent to translate this phrase back into Japanese, and this is how it appears on the base of Mantra. My correspondent also downloaded and sent me the Japanese Railways font 'JNR-SB-Font OTF' that I had admired on my trip. The characters on Mantra are rendered in this font. I placed atop the base a larger version of my 2017 work 'Intersection'.