The eccentric 19th-century writer Lafcadio Hearn is a folk hero in Japan, having been one of the first Westerners to write respectfully about their culture and beliefs. But almost NOONE knows that he began his career here in Cincinnati, writing lurid and macabre journalistic tales about the underbelly of early-industrial urban life. I am collaborating with two other artists to showcase his time in Cincinnati, linking his subject matter from Japan (ghost stories, etc) to that of his writing here. I’m collaborating with Evan Carroll and Rob Jefferson on this project, which will involve travel to JAPAN. The Hearn Society here in Cincinnati have already been amazing, as has the rare books library at Tulane University, and the Japan Society in New Orleans. It’s going to be a fascinating project, dealing with a difficult man and his complicated relationships with those that he documented.
This image is an attempt to depict Hearn HEAD-ON, exposing the disfigured eye that he hid from others, either by looking down or holding his hand over that eye. His eye was injured in his childhood, and it deeply affected his self-image.
