Midori Hayashi "Night Comers"

 To commemorate the publication of "Night Comers", her solo exhibition was held at Vanilla Gallery from November 7 to 19, 2017 in Tokyo. 

The Princess of Anthill II (the description of the doll on the front cover)

I created this doll when I learned about the Yanomami tribe in Amazon. To reduce the number of babies in their population, they put the babies in termite mounds to let termites eat. This is a ritual of returning the babies to the spirit world, which I found cruel and beautiful. This story inspired me to create this lovely princess doll. To recreate the scene, a horse’s skull was used to represent the termite hill.                     

-Midori Hayashi

98pages featuring more than 30dolls 

5.8” x 8.3”

Texts in English and Japanese

Stories written byMari Ishigami

Photographed byNagare Tanaka

Oct 2017

Midori Hayashi

She first worked for a small video game company. She was "otaku" who liked to read manga and watch anime. After she married, she recalled that she liked dolls created by Ryo Yoshida and that led her to join Doll Space Pygmalion in 2000, a doll-making class led by him.

Later she participated in Saemi Kurokawa’s workshops to learn how to make baby dolls with Cernit. She found that Cernit makes it possible to create lifelike dolls like wax-figures, thus came up with the idea of creating creepy dolls using Cernit. 

In 2012, she participated in a workshop held by Mantamu. This time she learned the technique of metal carving,  and doll-making using animal bones. This is when she encountered a photo book called “Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America.”  The images of beauty, affection, and tragedy from the book inspired her to use her skills to express her emotions through her dolls. Many of her creations are inspired by Japanese urban legends and folktales. 

She says she finds difficulty seeing herself now as an artist since she started doll-making as a hobby after all and her family feels the same way. She didn't attend an art school and thinks drawing is not her forte. Many of her creations are inspired by Japanese urban legends and folktales.