OEMK / Prologue

亻象

Elephant Tale

In Chinese, 象 carries echoes of elephant, image, and phenomenon.

像 adds the person radical 亻, becoming likeness, figure, or idol.

By pulling these elements apart, 亻象 fractures the image back open.

Elephant Tale, exhibition view at Kyykky Gallery, Helsinki — Elephant Tale, 2025 Ink on paper, 30 × 40 cm each Kyykky Gallery, Helsinki

In Han Feizi, those who had never seen a living elephant imagined its form through the bones of the dead. In the parable of the blind men and the elephant, each person encounters the animal through a fragment of perception.

Moving between elephant, image, idol, and the illegible body, Elephant Tale explores how images are constructed through fragments, proxies, and replicas. The elephant becomes a figure, a symbol, and a question: how do we imagine what we cannot fully perceive or know?

OEMK VOL. 0 / SELECTED SPREADS

Elephant Tale publication, elephant imagery and text

Elephant Tale publication, open spread with archival references

Elephant Tale publication, open spread with text and monochrome imagery

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Elephant Tale, OEMK Zine Vol. 0, handmade publication cover — Elephant Tale, OEMK Zine Vol. 0 2026 · Publication Edition of 20

One branch of this inquiry became OEMK — an ongoing publication series around the displaced, the residual, and the unarchived.

The prologue issue, OEMK Vol. 0: Elephant Tale, does not try to produce one truth. Instead, it works through what I call a poetic polyphony: a collage of texts and images, a polyphonic chorus that sketches, distorts, and depicts the elephant as figure, symbol, and question. Different voices coexist without collapsing into a single narrative.

Through fragmented texts and visual constellations, the publication reflects on stories told and untold. It asks who has the authority to narrate and how power structures continue to shape knowledge in postcolonial and anthropocentric contexts.

Elephant Tale / Japan, 2026

Elephant Tale

Three Yakushi-do Halls, Awara-Yunomachi, Japan

The three Yakushi-do halls in Awara Onsen, Fukui, long functioning as important community gathering spaces, hosted an exhibition presenting selected pages from OEMK Vol. 0: Elephant Tale.

Through themes of spirituality, collective memory, myth, and power hierarchies, the work engages with the layered histories and everyday presence of these communal religious spaces. Installed across windows and entrance areas, the exhibition extends the publication into the architecture and daily life of the neighbourhood.

Elephant Tale prints from OEMK Vol. 0 installed at a Yakushi-do hall — Elephant Tale, 2026 Installation of prints from OEMK Vol. 0 Elephant Tale, various sizes Three Yakushi-do Halls, Awara-Yunomachi, Japan

Different pages from Elephant Tale installed at another Yakushi-do hall

Visitors reading Elephant Tale at a Yakushi-do hall

Yakushi-do hall with Elephant Tale prints installed at the entrance

Thank you to Kato Sumiko Foundation Project & Hamuro-kai, Japan.