"SELFVERSE" is a viewer-participatory and co-creative light installation work.
The viewer uses a flashlight to shine light on reflective materials (aurora film, hologram sheets, mirror balls, etc.)  placed in the dark exhibition space, and the illusionary reflections are projected onto the walls and ceiling. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised by the beautiful scene that suddenly appears, as if by magic.

Viewers will be able to take the reflective materials and freely reconfigure them to create their own unique reflections while enjoying various experiments.  Collaborating with other viewers, they will be able to integrate and expand their own worlds. This creative world of unlimited possibilities, created by each viewer, is called "SELFVERSE" in this work.

The essence of this work is this very structure.

This work invites viewers to interact, contemplate, and investigate the process of visual creation. The analogue interaction, without any programming or digital equipment, will result in a one-of-a-kind creation by the viewers. This open-ended, unlimited, simple, fun and playful experiential installation will ignite the imagination of people of all ages.

The artist believes that this light-experimentation as an art medium provides an opportunity to enhance self-expansion powered by one's own creativity.

ARTIST STATEMENT
 

I have consistently attempted to express the unknown possibilities that we as humans all possess and the wonder of our individual existence through my artworks. In this work "SELFVERSE," the viewers are not as static bystanders but an active force,  joyfully experiencing the sparkle of his or her own potentiality.
 

The idea for this work came to me in 2018, when I was experimenting with light.
If one were to ask who is the first person to be moved by an artist's creative discovery or product (work of art), I believe it is undoubtedly the artist him/herself. Artists can feel themselves and their  world expanding through  their creations. It is the great joy for an artist to feel the possibility of going beyond what he or she has ever had.

It occurred to me that I could share this experience of creative excitement and joy with others, using ideas I had gained from my light　experiments. This work, in which illusionistic scenes are magically created by the viewer's own hands, is a simple device of shining light on reflective materials that can directly affect the creativity of the viewer. Also, I have a philosophy that "what exists in my world is a projection of my consciousness and state of mind. Depending on the state of consciousness and mind, and the actions that accompany it, we can create a reality that corresponds to it. In this work, the viewer can take the reflective materials and freely reconfigure them to experiment with light as he or she wishes. I believe that through this experiment, the viewer can experience the creation of his or her own world and a simulated experience of its management. In the summer of 2018, a few months after the idea was conceived, a prototype of this work was presented in my independent project titled "Create the Universe, Play in the Universe."
Seeing the viewers, in other words, the participants IN and OF the work, enjoying and immersing themselves in their creation, convinced me that the most important element of this work is the "people". We all have our own wonderful creative universe. We can develop that universe, merge it with the universes of others, and expand it infinitely. The actions of the participants in this work, their collaboration with each other, and the world woven by their light, are the very embodiment of this.  In this work, it is also possible for the participants to create beyond my imagination as the artist of this work. The "individuals" of the artist, the work as a medium, and the participants will gently dissolve the barriers between them and unite in the creation of an infinite universe. This is what this work is.

We have entered a new era. Having experienced many hardships and changes in recent years, I believe that we are called upon to evolve spiritually for the new era. Each of us can powerfully create our own reality by awakening our own true potential. It is my hope that this work, SELFVERSE, will contribute to awakening people for the future. We will use our creativity and potential to create the new era.

Yuiko Ráyka, 2023

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