KUROIWA Kunizo
Born: 26 November 1890 – Died: 14 December 1942
Particulars:
Kunizo was a carpenter in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, when the Pacific War broke out. He was brought to Australia, then interned at Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia. He died of a cerebral thrombosis at age 50, and his grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Mayu Kanamori
Artist/s Statement:
Because the records say Kunizo was born in Tukuoka, which is not a place name in Japan, we may guess that he was from Fukuoka Prefecture, as were many Japanese men who sought work overseas. I wondered if it could have been Tsuruoka where my grandmother is from, but probably not.
Although we don’t know how he wrote his name in kanji characters, phonetically, kuroiwa means black rock. I overlaid a sample of excellence in Japanese carpentry with a black rock formed by volcanic eruption.
Artist Bio:
Mayu Kanamori is a Japanese Australian artist working across mediums of photography, video, performance, and poetry.