Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane is an active volcano in Gunma prefecture in Japan. Near the summit, there are a few crater lakes called Yugama, Mizugama and Karegama. The Yugama, an acidic turquoise-colored lake with rafts of yellow sulfur floating on its surface, is the motif in this exhibition. To depict the emotions evoked by the Yugama scenery, artist Yui Horiuchi embroidered the edge of the lake on her handmade cotton sacoche in 31 different color combination.

The quietness of Yugama reminded Horiuchi of the moon palace which exists in her imagination. A breathtakingly beautiful dimension far away from her daily life in the noisy city of Tokyo. Although the mountain itself is a constant threat for being an active volcano, its hot springs have been a healing sight since ancient times, nurturing trees, animals and the people.

"That emerald is so soft as a color and when I wanted to explain about the mountain I thought '優しさ' in my mind and then I decided to call it 'tender mountain'."

—Yui Horiuchi
 

草津白根山（Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane）是在日本群馬縣的活火山。接近山頂的地方，有幾個火山口湖，分別為湯釜（Yugama）、水釜（Mizugama）、涸釜（Karegama）。湯釜是本次展覽的主題物，它是一座綠松石色的酸性湖泊，大量的黃硫石飄於其上，為了描繪被湯釜所觸發的情緒，藝術家堀内結（Yui Horiuchi）在她自製的棉布上，以31種不同顏色混合，繡上了他們的模樣。

湯釜火山口湖的寧靜感，讓堀内結想起了她想像中的月宮。那是一個令人震懾的美景，截然不同於她所生活的嘈雜之城——東京。即使草津白根山本身是一座時時刻刻帶有不安定因子的活火山，然而在古時，它產出的溫泉便是一個療癒的景點，滋養著樹林，動物，以及人類。

「祖母綠是如此柔軟的顏色，」堀内結說道，「當我想為這座山命名時，我的腦海閃過了『溫柔（優しさ）』二字，於是我決定稱它為『tender mountain』。」
 

text / Lillian Wu