“Kami” (2017)
“Kami” means both paper and god in Japanese. This work features a one thousand yen note inside a frame, but it is not just any old frame. Each frame originally held a portrait of the Japanese Emperor, and held the pride of place in a Japanese household, before during and/or after World War Two. The original portrait still exists in the back of each work. Such portraits, once revered, are these days auctioned off or sold at second hand stores.
The one thousand yen note itself is made from paper, but is not considered only just paper, just like the original picture inside each frame, was originally not considered just any old photograph.