My Visit To Pola Museum of Art in Hakone - A Forest of Art

Today, I feel compelled to reminisce time and space I experienced in the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone.  When art encounters nature, time becomes tranquil and dignified. When art is melting into nature, I once again, in the Pola Museum, experienced that idea status of 'being', physically, emotionally, and creatively. Pola Museum, A museum with contemporary cool was designed to blend into a national park just hit my aesthetic core instantly. Underneath the facade, its thoughtfully and immaculately curated art collection and exhibition convey the power of art, soothing every coming visitors’ soul and body. I indeed, echo with ‘ its reverberations that resound through a forest of art. ‘ 

The exhibition-themed 'interior visions' appeals to me at first. This exhibition features the expression of interior space by artists from the 19th century to the present day. A room, as a confined and closed space, brings us a sense of security and serenity but may also lead to feelings of isolation and alienation. Interior design fills a void space with a sense of style and belonging, which inspires and empowers us to link indoor and outdoors, to connect outside and inside.  As I grow my awareness and sensibility in the interior design, I gradually related to its story-telling through interior objects, repeated everyday routines and activities, natural lighting, and casting shadows flowing between indoors and outdoors. Artists from ancient times to today captured daily scene and characters in their work through their intimate gaze  on everyday life, providing us with a new perspective to re-exam our experience and expectation associated with rooms.  
Another exhibition that melting me heart is Kicking the Water: Sengokuhara by Naofumi Maruyama. Maruyama was inspired by the ever-changing nature of water.  The application of water into Maruyama’s painting embody his awareness of perils that pervade our world.  He also approached unique working techniques known as staining . His use of water as a medium for spreading and blurring is ideal for depicting the softly hazy forest of Sengokuhara. He believes the world we are living in is shrouded with invisible veils.  The architect Jun Aoki designed the exhibition venue wall made of fine veils that evoke the surface of shimmering water. 
Moving forward, Pola Museum  strives to create a space to inspire its visitors to pursue a more fulfilling life while attaining a greater emotional depth and sense of awareness. Today, the world is entering an unprecedented transitional phase. The joys and emotions triggered by art are certain to provide us with the courage and power to forge into the unknown. Tracing back to my home project in 2022, I began to vaguely sense that Interior design will offer me a new perspective and lens to restructure the physical space, reframe my way of thinking, and reconnect time and space. Entering in 2023, I intentionally nurture my relationship with museums, architecture, interior design, and nature, because I experienced that moment of the ideal 'being'  through the connection of all those elements. I do not lost sight of big perspectives or being falsely optimistic here, and I am aware pandemic we are facing in the contemporary age is not just a physical crisis of illness but also a mental crisis. I listened to A Ted Talk presented in Mori Art Museum Tokyo this time.  An architect said we are facing a pandemic of boringness and dullness, but good architecture can help turn this around, and I totally agree!  
I know I can only physically be here in this museum, Pola Museum temporarily, but a mind stretched by this new experience will never go back to its old dimensions. I consider that is the hope and joy generated by art that translated into my power and strengths to counterbalance world uncertainty and personal turmoil. 

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