Interview ``Hello Mother's Day'' published on Lisa Larson JP as a ``Mother's Day'' special project.
Lisa, who lost her mother when she was young, thinks about her late mother and talks to an interviewer who is an old friend of hers, something she has never been able to hear before.
- Celebrate Mother's Day,
I always went to the forest to pick lily of the valley.
My mother passed away when I was 2 years old, and my father remarried when I was about 6 years old, and I had a new mother.
To celebrate Mother's Day, I always went to the forest to pick lilies of the valley.
So before, I had no desire to have children.
Even after Gunnar and I got married, we always said, ``We won't have children.''
One of the reasons for this was my own experiences as a child and my great fear of dying early and leaving my children behind.
In a sense, it was a very pessimistic time, and with the atomic bomb being dropped, I pessimistically thought that the world might continue to turn into hell.
LisaWe didn't have any children for eight years after we got married. During that time, we also faced a crisis.
Well, when you're married, there are times when you have differences of opinion, and everyone goes through those times, but at that time, the two of us talked a lot, and then we decided to have a child. And soon after that, I had a baby! It was as if it had been ordered. Isn't it funny? (lol)
I was about 30 when Johanna was born, so I was old enough to be a mother.
It was an incredible experience for me. Every time I had a child, I was somewhat pessimistic and optimistic about whether or not a healthy child would be born, but I felt rather pessimistic.
But I think it's really great to have such good kids.
TonkachiI'm sure that's the case.
LisaI think I succeeded very well. (lol)
- First of all, it's a big responsibility.
And respect each other.
Tonkachi“Love for my mother,” “love for my father,” “love for my children,” what kind of “love” is that?
Please tell me your image.
LisaWell, the first thing you feel is "love."
Well, I guess it's all about "love," but I think it's something you feel mentally.
However, for me, ``love'' is first of all a great responsibility.
And respect each other.
I think it is important that there is mutual respect, rather than just one side deciding on each other's work and each other's desires.
Well, I don't really have much advice to give, but this is my idea that suddenly came to mind.
Many people often say to me, ``You guys have been married for a long time.'' We have been married for almost 70 years. So people around me wonder how they can stay together for such a long time. I am asked.
At times like that, I think about it, but it really comes down to mutual respect.
Gunnar has always respected my wishes and work. I also have a lot of respect for him as an artist and as a human being.
He's smarter than me and much more talented than me. So I've always looked up to him.
TonkachiThat's a lot of respect!
LisaYes, respect.
TonkachiWhat kind of love is "love for creating works"?
LisaWell, when I create a work, I mostly do it based on my emotions, so I don't think about it much, or rather, at all. Emotions are bigger than ideas.
Before I know it, I'm creating a piece on my own, so when it's finished, I'm always surprised, thinking, ``Wow! I was able to make something like this!''
I always think that the finished work is not good, but after 20, 30, 40 years...
People often say, "This is great! It's really good!" But I couldn't see how good it was and just said, ``I don't think it's good. It's a failure.''
But if I fail once, I want to try again. I don't want to give up. (lol)
-The reason I am currently working with my hands is
I am greatly influenced by my mother.
I know it myself.
TonkachiHow do you feel about your mother now?
LisaThere's a picture of her mother hanging there. I always look at this photo and say things like "Good morning mom!"
I say ``Good night, Mom!'' to her. When I started remembering my childhood, probably around the age of three, I would cry and talk to my girlfriend's mother in heaven almost every night.
While saying that I'll see you someday. I still remember it well. At that time, I would always hug my favorite doll and talk to her every night so that no one could hear me.
My father was a truly wonderful man. He was a hard worker and he always worked to the best of his ability.
He was interested in culture and literature, and he was always buying lots of books and buying nice things from antique shops in town.
He is the son of a poor farmer in Småland, and only his eldest son inherits the farm, leaving the others to fend for themselves. He wanted to be an architect or a lawyer if he could go to school.
He was selected to serve on a local jury and participated in discussions every month, and at that time he became friends with the judge, which is probably why he aspired to become a lawyer.
TonkachiIf the story between you and your mother were made into a movie, what would be the most memorable scene for you?What kind of scene will it be?
Lisalet me see. I had a chance to meet someone who knew her mother, and she told me that her mother had many siblings and that she was very close to them. She said that her mother was very good with her hands and was good at pottery and sewing. It seems that her handwriting was very beautiful, but I don't have a single letter that she wrote. But everyone said they did very well.
I think she had talent in her hands. She got married young, so she never had another job. I don't know what she really wanted to do. I think she was a very warm-hearted and kind person. Her siblings were all religious, warm and kind people.
TonkachiSo you want to make a film about your mother and your working hands?
LisaThat's right. I am well aware that the way I work with my hands now is largely influenced by my girlfriend's mother. There are some embroidered tapestries and tablecloths left behind by her mother.
- Ah, when I think about it,
I've made a lot of ``mother statues.''
TonkachiHave you ever made a work of your mother?
LisaI don't think so, but... now that I think about it, I've made a lot of statues of my mother.
The theme is mother and child. We've been talking about it until now, and yeah, I never really thought about it.
I clearly remember the tender feelings I felt when I created that piece.
Perhaps somewhere in his heart he missed his mother and turned to ``a statue of his mother.''
I had never thought of that myself. Maybe it was my way of expressing my feelings, expressing my feelings in a physical way.
TonkachiMy message to those who are about to become mothers is, ``If I had to give any advice, this would be it.''
LisaHahahaha! This is kind of interesting.
Because my son Matthias and Frederica (Matthias' wife) will have a baby in the summer.
She was looking forward to having a child.
She is now 40 years old and Matthias is almost 60! (lol)
I don't have any advice for them. You can be a great parent even without my advice!
After the interview
Lisa concludes from the few stories her mother left behind that she was good at embroidery, sewing, and handwriting, that her mother was someone who had talent in her hands. By thinking this way, Lisa is creating an image of her mother from what little information she has left. Having talent in her hands is certainly something Lisa inherited. So it absolutely has to be that way. Because it's a "connection".
It's hard to imagine that the fact that my mother wasn't there and the lack of my mother had a huge impact on Lisa's life. The absence is immersed in her work in making her work. As if I was small, she talked to her mother in heaven, as she talked to her mother in the heavens, so she talked to the lake -like lake in her heart, and that lion. I have been hugging a cat. She feels intuitively, so she feels her special kindness and special loneliness in her work, and she loves them, as she has come out of her heart. I'm sorry.
Now, Lisa was "unfortunate childhood", but at that time she never said that. She without her mother was so absorbed in the job of pottery that she became her mother and could produce her many works. It may be a manifestation that she likes to create living organisms such as animals and people rather than tableware. She was asked what she would make if she could only make one at the end, and Lisa immediately answered, "It's a person."
She can be said to be her mother, "What gives children endless love." And the children remember the feeling that each has those small episodes and unusual. But Lisa has no experience or feel. Lisa thinks her mother with her fantasy, and she has respected her mother from her heart. Her Lisa's love is "the love to think". She says, Lisa, she says she is a respect for love. "Love to think" is different from the "feeling of kindness". The respect of "thinking" creates a connection.
Interviews tend to be centered on past stories. But we know that "the past is the past", which is actually only meaningful now. Lisa always thinks about the future. She can't make a work if she thinks of the past without herself without herself. The girl who was talking to the doll became an artist, always speaking to the future of her born work. She is only interested in the future. Coincidentally, this interview ends with the near future of the eldest son and his wife who can have children in the summer.
After the interview with Lisa, she thought so.