Richard Hawkins: The Garden of Loved Ones at Empty Gallery

変態 (hentai; shinjitai) derives from 變態 (classical Chinese, also kyūjitai), which is attested in classical Chinese texts. It functioned as a verbal phrase, from its two component morphemes, 變 meaning “to change” and 態 meaning “state” or “condition,” hence “to change from a state to another.” Literal one-to-one English translations for this would be transform and metamorph, wherein trans- and meta- correspond to 變, while form and morph to 態. This meaning is attested in early Middle Japanese and later texts.
In Chinese, 變 is primarily a verb meaning to “change,” and secondarily a noun meaning “troublesome event,” but in Japanese, it was extended to an adjectival noun meaning “different,” “unusual” or “strange”. This led 變態 to become a noun phrase meaning “strange state,” thus “abnormality,” instead of the original “to change to another state,” in modern Japanese and Chinese publications, particularly in psychology and physiology. A psychological application of this meaning is found in the phrase 変態性欲 (hentai seiyokulit. ‘abnormal sexual desire’), which has been cited as being shortened (by ellipsis) back to just 変態. [End of the Wikipedia quote]
This is a very hentai exhibition.

Exhibition period: 23.03–24.05
Gallery address: 19/F, Grand Marine Center, Aberdeen