Ka La Ka La Mountain

作品賞析

Artist Kao An-Bo’s Ka La Ka La Mountain depicts an imaginary friend of his during his childhood as well as the creaking of the wooden floor in the attic of his family home. It also incorporates elements of the traditional Japanese folk tale “Kachi-kachi-yama.” The light ochre-red paper of the background is a metaphor for the flesh and blood of the raccoon dog, from the episode in which its mud boat sinks into a lake. The image of the mountain is also the paw of the raccoon dog, raised above the lake’s surface when calling for help. On the right side of the image, the artist added a fingerprint pattern to symbolize the storyteller, whose voice turns into the clouds and smoke in the painting. The brushstrokes, meanwhile, depict the childhood memories and the story of the mountain. Not only did Kao An-Bo meticulously visualize the past, he also supposed that the voices and imaginary friends that accompanied him through childhood all came from the same dimension. However, whether these friends actually exist seems to occupy the blurry zone between fantasy and reality, and it has become a mystery that the artist has never solved.