Gaze

The piece a visual tribute to Yasuke but also an exploration of the complex relationships between cultures and the transformative power of acceptance and recognition.
Yasuke was a black warrior who reached the rank of samurai under the rule of Oda Nobunaga – a powerful 16th Century Japanese feudal lord who was the first of the three unifiers of Japan.

When Nobunaga bestowed the rank of samurai on Yasuke the idea of a non-Japanese samurai was something unheard of.
As the first foreign-born samurai, Yasuke fought important battles alongside Oda Nobunaga.