Reflective Encounters

“Tongue is an intimate exploration of the frustrations that come with the repetitiveness of modern dating, self-pleasure and taking ownership of your own sexuality. Kaho Yoshida's work uses a mixed-media approach, combining a bold graphic 2D animation with brightly coloured claymation to create a distinctively sensual world. Pastels pump up against fluorescent colours, soft curves and delicate lace, the high gloss of a terrarium and the slick glisten of an ice popsicle working together with organic sounds to create a textural array of sensation. A look at the act of self-love, fantasy and fetishism, of both the self as well as objectophilia – or more pointedly Partialism (being sexually arousal by particular body parts that aren’t genitalia).

The piece fits alongside a growing number of films that focus on the uncovering of female pleasure, something that animation is particularly adept at doing. Through the use of colour, sound and metamorphic abstraction, the ability to visualise experiences such as the female orgasm takes on new perceivable dimensions, opening up dialogues for communication and representation. The non-literal, non-linear and non-figurative capabilities of animation also allow for a broader and more adaptable viewing experience, allowing the audience to seek affinity with characters that operate as the Self or an Undefined Other we see ourselves through.”

— Laura-Beth Cowley