For the first August Chills work I chose a Japanese ghost story, in honor of the culture that inspired this project. Okiku’s story is usually known as Ghost in the Well in English, but the Japanese title Sara-yashiki, translates as ‘House of Plates’.

Listen to her story to find out why:

Now that you heard Okiku’s story, you can probably identify several of the elements I used in the work:

The numbers are most clear, they are central to the story after all. I combined the circular shape of the plate with that of a well, and added gold-filled cracks to the edges. The idea comes from a traditional method of fixing broken china in Japan that used gold, it connected the pieces and accentuated the cracks, giving the dish new character. It would only have been used on precious dishes, so it fit the story on that aspect, but well - the cracks definitely worked too! The hanya mask represents the angry and vengeful spirit of a woman in noh theater, so it seemed almost required here. They can certainly look scary, but they usually have a very good reason for their anger…

Giveaway!

don’t forget to visit my social media accounts for your chance to win a limited edition copy of this work (or one of the other three August Chills works to come):