Usagi Kannon II by Ikemura Leiko
This week artist Ikemura Leiko will be visiting the UEA campus to oversee the installation of her sculpture, Usagi Kannon II, at the Sainsbury Centre. The sculpture, seen here in 2019 at Regent’s Park, is rendered in English as ‘Rabbit Madonna’, however this designation dilutes the meaning of the sculpture which heavily leans on the mythos around the female bosatsu Kannon, a local form of the boddhisattva of mercy and compassion.
According to a press release issued by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to commemorate the installation of the sculpture: “Usagi Kannon II [Rabbit Madonna] is a bronze figure with rabbit ears and a crying human face, which is one of Ikemura’s most significant motifs. The character was first created in 2011 in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the subsequent reported birth defects in animals.
“The artist describes this hybrid creature as a symbol of universal mourning with its bell-shaped skirt acting as protective shrine. Questioning the cycle of creation and destruction, her work shares her concerns for the future of our planet at a time when natural habitats are increasingly under threat.”
A press release from the Kwenig Gallery in Spain, where the statue was displayed between September 2020 and the end of January 2021, notes: “Ikemura originally conceived two Usagi Kannon as a couple: one with a smiling face as a hope-giving figure for all growing people and living things, and a mourning one, dedicated to the people and living beings who died and suffered losses…
“Usagi Kannon is a synthesis of the Eastern and Western culture, standing between the Buddhist tradition of Kannon and the Christian iconography of the Virgin of Mercy.”
The statue itself melds Japanese iconography with a deep-rooted desire to process environmental disasters in a unique way, the sculpture itself is both a symbol of transformation and healing, as well as a way to seek protection from higher powers, as Kannon—a popular bosatsu in Japanese religious life and observation—is believed to hear the cries of the suffering and refused to enter Nirvana until every last human has gone on ahead.
I look forward to seeing the installation for myself so expect on-site photography later this week.
