Ctrl Shift + J by Sayuri Ichida

I constantly wonder where I truly belong. This series explores the psychological impact of relocation and emigration that I have experienced throughout my life. The title is inspired by the keyboard shortcut I frequently use when typing in Japanese, and it serves as an indirect representation of my national background.

The series captures the essence of my personal narrative, starting from the relocation my family underwent when I entered elementary school. As my father was relocated to Niigata prefecture, over 1,000 km away from our hometown, my mother made the courageous decision to uproot us from the big city and join him in the rural town. The sense of being an outsider, amplified by our strong Kyushu dialect (spoken in the Southern region), made our adjustment to the new environment a challenging process for each family member. Along with the prior moves I experienced as a child, this event contributed to a deep-rooted dissonance with any one place, making it difficult for me to settle down. This dissonance and the ensuing quest for belonging became defining aspects of my identity.

A few years ago, through a DNA test, I discovered a small percentage of my ancestral background is British, a surprising revelation that inadvertently brought me to the very country where my mysterious great-great-grandfather hailed from. In this serendipitous connection, I can't help but draw parallels between his experience as an alien in a foreign land and my own journey as an immigrant in the UK.

This series will comprise a multitude of subjects, ranging from architectural elements to my grandfather’s old passport photo and unknown relatives from my family album and so on. Seemingly out-of-place geometric forms are employed in the images to reinforce the sensation of not fitting in, distracting the viewer’s perception with ambiguity.

With Ctrl Shift + J, I strive to evoke a profound sense of introspection in viewers, inviting them to reflect on their own experiences of displacement and the search for belonging.
Sayuri Ichida