SAKI OTSUKA returns to GALLERY ETHER with the all-new solo exhibition “Taking Back Myself”, a deeply personal exploration of the artist’s real life experience. Featuring a diverse collection of works, including photographs, mono-prints, and video created around a central installation, this final testimony on this chapter of her story speaks to the reclamation of the soul in the aftermath of traumatic sexual violence, and the complex realities of living as a woman.

This exhibition serves as a record and a challenge by the artist, who has endlessly reenacted the trauma of "that day" in order to recover the "self" that she lost as a victim of sexual assault.

After “that day” she lived with the feeling that she had lost her inner self, that her soul had died, and by chasing after her fears in an attempt to overcome them she found herself exposed to further abuses. Because she knew no other way to protect herself than to try to rewrite the memories of those experiences, she fell into a cycle of continuously reenacting her trauma. 

This work was born from that experience, and is an attempt toward "regeneration" rather than "reproduction." It is a poignant and quiet act to reunite with the "inner self" that once died.

The society in which we live is a place that values ​​order and peace, but also silently harbors the contradiction of sexual violence remaining rampant on a daily basis, with the dignity of women in particular being overlooked. Sexual assault is not a problem of individuals, but is rather an area in which a greater problem in the structure of society is highlighted.

We at GALLERY ETHER hope that this exhibition will resonate with you as strongly as it does with us, and that you all will join us in supporting the artist and other survivors of sexual violence to speak truth to a reality that still endures.