…is a collection of photographic portraits of Japanese wooden folk kokeshi dolls observing the passing of the seasons within nature.

What intrigues me most about kokeshi is their painted expressions - the calm, acceptance, charm and, at times, the humor they exude. In this project, I am attempting to sense and portray these characteristics and to use the natural world to draw out the individual personalities of the kokeshi.

The most rewarding aspect of this project has been the time spent outdoors, truly experiencing the seasons and changing weather. I've also become very familiar with the nearly two acre plot of garden, woods, and stream where I live, all its nooks and crannies, the idiosyncrasies of its trees, the mushrooms that sprout into a colony overnight.*

*For more information and photographs visit https://www.thekokeshiproject.com/.