Candy Wrapper, Tokyo/Kimono Pattern Flash Burn Photograph, Hiroshima 1990

Curator: Paul Graham's diptych, "Candy Wrapper, Tokyo/Kimono Pattern Flash Burn Photograph, Hiroshima," presents two seemingly unrelated images, each filling half of the 1225 x 2050 mm support. Editor: The jarring contrast is immediate. On the left, saccharine cartoon imagery; on the right, something… viscerally disturbing. The palette itself amplifies the discord. Curator: Exactly. Graham juxtaposes contemporary Japanese pop culture with the lingering effects of the atomic bombing. The right panel documents the patterns imprinted on a survivor's skin from their kimono. Editor: The tonal range is crucial here. The soft pinks and reds of the wrapper mirror the raw, burnt flesh, creating an unsettling visual echo. The composition reinforces this duality, dividing our attention and provoking a disquieting connection. Curator: Graham is forcing us to confront uncomfortable truths about memory, trauma, and the way societies choose to remember or, perhaps, forget. The banality of the everyday existing alongside historical horror. Editor: A powerful and deeply unsettling pairing. One leaves with a sense of profound unease regarding visual harmony and dissonance. Curator: Indeed, a potent commentary on the enduring impact of history on the present.