Dissolving Film: "Midsummer's Daydream" by Audrey Gretz and Kaoru Hagano

Audrey Gretz is a film photographer and collage artist living in Tokyo, Japan. She grew up in North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her photographs and collages have been published by magazines such as Luna Collective, ANON, and Atlantis. She is inspired by Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshitomo Nara, vegetables, run-on sentences, dinosaurs, and museums. She is always curious about the relationships between gender, identity, and culture, and is constantly exploring the emotional connectivities that art provides. She one day aspires to own a black cat named Jiji.

I met up with Kaoru on a brutally sunny day, for the first time, this past month. Both of our creative works really grow from ideas of positive energy between females, a love for nature, and visuals that feel like daydreams. As the day passed, we took turns styling and positioning one another excitedly. That day reminded me how simple and real the connections you make through creating something together can be.