Until now, I've been drawn to flowers — captivated by their graceful forms, vivid colors, and the invisible paths their scents take.
But lately, my attention has turned to a single point "before" the bloom: the seed.
A seed contains everything that is yet to come.
Within something so small are all the colors, all the forms, all the fragrances — everything!
I follow that wonder through drawing.
Lines waver, blur, lash out, disappear...
And yet, I feel they somehow connect to the energy held within a seed.
The story of "Cosmic Seeds" began with a single drawing of a rabbit.
A rabbit named Lugdranelios, whose ears are tuned to the sounds of the universe. He journeys from star to star, collecting fragments of memory to nurture a single seed.
This story was co-created by an Al and myself.
And just like working with another human, collaboration with Al isn't always easy.
There were moments when things didn't quite come together - the images in my mind, the story taking shape, and the lines on the page.
Yet even in those misalignments, I felt we were tracing a path - imperfect and uncertain - that nonetheless moved toward the creation of life.
Lines are deeply honest to our bodies.
What comes out now is never quite the same as what came yesterday or even a moment ago.
There's a rhythm of fluctuation that I've come to accept.
And so, at the end of each drawing, it feels as if a tiny seed has just begun to appear ahead - and the path of creation continues.
私はこれまで「花」を中心に描いてきました。フォルムの優雅さ、鮮やかな色、その香りのゆくえを表現することに魅了されました。
けれど今、私の関心は“咲く前の点”、すなわち「種」へと向かっています。
宇宙の音を聴く耳をもつうさぎールグドラネリオス。彼は、星々を巡って記憶を集め、ひと粒の種を育てようとします。
このお話は、AIと私が共同で描きました。人間と同じようにAIにおいても共同作業というのは簡単なものではありません。
私のイメージするもの、生まれてくる物語、描き出される絵、
その食い違いにもどかしい時間もありましたが、それでも、それぞれが少しずつずれながら、命を創造する軌跡に近づこうとしています。
線は、私たちのからだにとても素直です。
昨日と今日、さっきと今、同じものは出てきません。ゆらぎを受け入れながらの日々があります。
それゆえに描き終えた先にもまた小さな種が落ちているようで、制作は続きます。
This exhibition was held as part of Osaka Art & Design 2025.
この展覧会は、大阪アート&デザイン2025 の一環で開催されました
地球から見えない月の裏側には静かな森が広がっていて、一匹のうさぎが住んでいました。名前はルグドラネリオス。通称ネル。ネルの耳はとても長く、宇宙の音を聞きとることができる特別な力を持っていました。
ある晩ネルは静寂の中で、不思議な音を耳にします。
「ポポン…ポポン…」
目を凝らすと、輝く光の粒が空から降ってくるのを見つけました。ネルがそっと手を伸ばすと、その光は小さな種でした。
宇宙のどこかから流れついた宇宙種。
ネルは種を森深くの空が少しだけ透けて見える場所に植えました。けれどふつうの水や土では芽吹かないことに気づきます。
そのとき「星の記憶を集めるんだ。」
宇宙の声が、ネルの長い耳に響きました。
ネルは月を飛び出しました。
ネルは思い切りジャンプをしながら、星々の記憶を集めはじめました。
ネルが最初にたどり着いたのは、砂漠のような乾いた惑星。風が絶えず吹き荒れ、砂丘の上には砂の羽をまとった鳥のような生きもの「サンドウィング」が舞っていました。
その頭には砂が巻き上がるたびに大きくゆれる、きらめくトサカがありました。
彼らは流れ星たちの最期を見守る存在であり、その鼓動を風に乗せ広大な宇宙へ溶かしこむ役目を持っていました。
次にたどり着いたのは、無重力の水の球体がいくつも浮かぶ星。水の中では、「銀色の魚たち」がゆるやかに泳ぎながら、まるで星の間をわたるように光の粒を追いかけていました。
ネルが耳を水面に近づけると、魚たちが見た夢の断片が、かすかに響いてきます。
流れ星の尾をくぐりぬけた記憶。虹色の星雲につつまれた瞬間。
そしてー哀しみの底を何度も何度もなぞっては、途方にくれた時間。
一匹の魚がネルに近づき、尾で水面をやさしくたたきます。水の波紋が静かにひろがります。
「僕たちの夢のつづきを誰かに描いてほしいんだ。どんどんつなげて宇宙サイズの夢にするのって素敵じゃない？」
石の間から現れたのは、目を凝らさなければ見えないほどの極小の蜘蛛。まるで塵のように風にゆられながら、繊細な糸をつむいでいます。
「この糸はね、誰かがここで生きた記憶なんだ。」
ネルが見上げると、石柱の表面にごく微細な光の筋がからまりあっています。よく見ると、それは光ではなく蜘蛛がつむぐ細い糸。蜘蛛がわずかに動くと、石の表面に張りめぐらされた糸が淡く光り、過去の影が一瞬浮かびあがります。誰かがここで空を見上げた記憶、誰かが大切な人の名前を呼んだ記憶、それら全部が糸の中につつまれ、ひとつの模様を描いていきます。やがてその模様は石の深いところへゆっくりとしずんでいきます。
ネルは宇宙を旅し、終わりの記憶、夢の記憶、時の記憶を集めました。そして月へと帰るはずでした。
けれど、次に目を開けたとき、そこは見覚えのない世界―――
青々とした芝生の上に、時計を持った白いウサギが慌ただしく走っていきます。奇妙な帽子をかぶった男が紅茶をそそぎ、トランプの兵隊たちが赤いバラを塗っています。どこかで「時間よ止まれ！」という叫び声が聞こえたかと思うと、次の瞬間には「時間が逃げた！」という声に変わりました。
「ここは…？」
「これはこれは、迷い込んだねえ。」
ふわりと宙に浮かびながら、にやりと笑う猫。体の境界が曖昧で、半分消えたり現れたりしています。
「シャシャネコ…？」
「いや、名前なんてどうでもいいのさ。僕はここにいるけど、いないかもしれないし、いないけど、いるかもしれない。ところで、君は何を探しているんだ？」
ネルは不思議そうに耳を傾けました。
「宇宙の記憶を集めていたんだ。でも、気づいたらここにいて…。」
「ははん、それは“迷いの記憶”ってやつだねえ。ここでは、すべての道が正しくて、すべての道が間違っている。どこへ行きたい？」
「帰りたい。でも、その前に…。」
ネルはまた耳を澄ませました。
「ポポン…ポポン…」
音の源は、大きなキノコの上。
青白い煙をくゆらせながら、一匹の芋虫がじっとこちらを見ています。
「おやおや、君は誰だ？」低い声が響きます。
「ネル。宇宙の記憶を集めています。」
「宇宙？ふむ…。」
芋虫は長く煙を吐きました。
「記憶とは形を持たぬもの。あるようでないもの。ないようであるもの。お前の持つ記憶は、今も記憶か？」
「……？」
「それが記憶だ。」
そう言うと、芋虫はするすると立ち上がり、蝶の羽を広げました。ネルが目をまばたかせると、シャシャネコの笑みだけが空中に残りました。
―― 迷い星で出会ったものは、本当にあったのだろうか。
そんなことを考えていると、いつもより重く強い響きで、
「ポポン…ポポン…」
流れ星の鼓動ではなく、魚たちの夢でもなく、石の響きでもない音。
ーもしや、種の鼓動？
ネルが静かに耳を澄ませると、全てが静まりかえりました。
次にネルが目を開けた時、そこにはあの種がありました。見覚えのある森。地球から見えない方の月の静かな木々の間。ネルはそっと息を整え、気持ちを集中し、種を見つめます。そして、あの声に言われたように、集めた記憶を、やさしく吹きこみました。
「ポポン…ポポン」
種は小さく震え、柔らかい光を放ちはじめました。ネルは目を閉じその音に耳を澄ませます。その時わずかな振動が土をふわりと動かしました。
「芽吹きだ！」
殻の奥でふくらんだ芽が、静かにその殻を押し広げはじめます。
種は小さく震え、柔らかい光を放ちはじめました。
殻のすき間から顔をのぞかせた薄緑の芽が、今度はまるで何かを指し示すように、まっすぐ宙へと向かいはじめました。ぐんぐん、ぐんぐん、新芽は迷いなくのびてゆきます。
やがて、宇宙種の芽はあらゆる方向に茎を張り、広げ、それぞれが星座のようにつながりはじめました。まるで種が自らの記憶を空に描いているかのように。
あんなに小さな種の中に、こんなに大きな世界が入っていたなんて！
あんなに小さな種の中に、こんなに大きな世界が入っていたなんて。
星の鼓動、魚の夢、石につむがれた記憶、迷い星で出会った不思議たち一ネルは夜空に、それらの姿を見つけました。
大きな夜の空気につつまれながら、その雄大な世界にしばらく酔いしれていました。
そして、ひときわ輝く星に目をとめたとき、ネルは気づきます。
それはまぎれもなく、自分が思い描いていた夢。
誰にも話したことのない、胸の奥にしまっていたはずのもの。
けれど宇宙はそれを覚えていて、星の光を通してネルに伝えてきたのです。
「ポポン...ポポン...」
いつものこの音が、今度はネルの身体の奥からわき上がってくるように響きました。
「あの夢、今ならきっと叶えることができる！」
空に広がった宇宙種の星たちが、ネルの鼓動にそろえるようにまたたき、リズムを刻んでいます。ネルは決心し、駆け出しました。
さっきまで静かだった夜空に、ネルの夢を映した宇宙種が光あふれる世界を広げています。
夜空はその変化をそっと受けとめ、星星のあいだの新たな星座を誇らしく迎え入れました。
作/ 牧かほり x G.F.T(Generative FantasyTransmitter)
On the far side of the moon, hidden from Earth’s view, there was a quiet forest where a single rabbit lived.
His name was Lugdranelios—though everyone called him Nel.
Nel had unusually long ears, and with them, he possessed a special gift: he could hear the sounds of the cosmos.
One night, in the stillness, Nel heard a strange sound.
“Popon… popon…”
Peering into the sky, he saw glowing specks of light falling gently from above.
When he reached out his paw, one of the lights landed softly in his hand.
It was a tiny seed—
a cosmic seed, carried from somewhere far across the universe.
Nel planted the seed deep in the forest, in a clearing where the sky shimmered faintly through the trees.
But he soon realized—ordinary water and soil would not be enough to make it sprout.
Just then, a voice echoed in Nel’s long ears:
"Gather the memories of the stars."
It was the voice of the cosmos.
Without hesitation, Nel leapt from the moon.
With each bold jump, he began gathering the memories scattered across the stars.
The first place Nel arrived was a dry, desert-like planet.
Winds howled without end, and on the dunes, birdlike creatures called Sandwings, draped in feathered cloaks of sand, danced in the swirling air.
On their heads were shimmering crests that swayed with every gust of sand-laced wind.
The Sandwings were guardians of the end—witnesses to the final moments of falling stars.
Their role was to carry each fading heartbeat on the wind, and let it gently dissolve into the vastness of space.
Next, Nel arrived at a planet where countless weightless spheres of water floated in space.
Within each shimmering orb, silver fish drifted slowly, chasing glimmers of light as if they were swimming from star to star.
When Nel brought his ear close to the surface, faint echoes of the fish’s dreams began to emerge.
Memories of slipping through the tail of a shooting star,
of being wrapped in a rainbow-colored nebula,
and of listening to the endlessly clear sound of the universe...
One fish approached Nel and gently tapped the surface with its tail.
Ripples spread softly across the water.
“We want someone to keep drawing our dreams,” the fish whispered.
“Isn’t it wonderful to keep connecting them—until one day, we have a dream the size of the universe?”
From between the stones emerged a spider so small, it could barely be seen without narrowing one’s eyes.
It drifted like a speck of dust on the wind, spinning an impossibly delicate thread.
“This thread,” it said, “holds the memory of someone who once lived here.”
Nel looked up and noticed faint streaks of light intertwined across the surface of the stone pillars.
But as he looked closer, he realized they weren’t light at all—they were the spider’s threads.
When the spider moved ever so slightly, the threads stretched across the stone shimmered faintly, and shadows of the past flickered into view.
Someone once stood here, gazing up at the sky.
Someone once called out the name of someone they loved.
All of it, every memory, was held within the threads—woven into a single, intricate pattern.
And slowly, that pattern sank deeper and deeper into the heart of the stone.
Nel had traveled through the cosmos, gathering memories of endings, of dreams, and of time.
He was supposed to be heading back to the moon.
—But the next time he opened his eyes,
he found himself in a world he had never seen before.
A white rabbit dashed past him across a field of bright green grass, glancing nervously at a pocket watch.
A man in a very peculiar hat poured tea for no one in particular,
while playing-card soldiers busily painted white roses red.
Somewhere in the distance, someone shouted,
“Stop time!”
which, a moment later, became
“Time has escaped!”
“…Where… am I?”
“Oh ho! You’ve wandered in, have you?”
Floating in midair, grinning from ear to ear, was a cat.
Or half of one. Its body faded in and out like a forgotten idea.
“Cheshire Cat…?” Nel blinked.
“Names? Pfft, names are overrated.
Maybe I’m here, maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m not here, but then again, maybe I am.
The real question is—what are you looking for?”
Nel tilted his head and listened with his long ears.
“I was gathering the memories of the universe.
But now I’m... here.”
“Ahhh, that’s what we call a Memory of Being Lost.
On this star, all paths are correct—and all paths are wrong.
So... where do you want to go?”
“I want to go home,” Nel said,
“but... maybe not just yet.”
He closed his eyes and listened again.
“Popon… popon…”
The sound was coming from the top of a large mushroom.
A caterpillar sat there, exhaling pale blue smoke, staring straight at Nel.
“Well, well,” it said in a deep voice.
“And who might you be?”
“Nel. I’m gathering the memories of the universe.”
“Universe, you say… hmm.”
The caterpillar let out a long, curling breath of smoke.
“Memory is a thing with no form.
Something that is, but isn’t.
Something that isn’t, but somehow is.
And the memories you carry—are they still memories now?”
“…?”
“That’s memory.”
With that, the caterpillar rose upright and spread a pair of butterfly wings.
Nel blinked—
and all that remained was the floating grin of the striped cat.
Did any of that really happen?
he wondered.
Just then, the sound returned—
heavier this time, and deeper.
“Popon… popon…”
It wasn’t the heartbeat of a falling star.
Nor the echo of the fish’s dream.
Nor the shimmer of stone.
Could it be…
the seed’s heartbeat?
Nel tilted his ears and listened.
And in that moment, everything fell utterly, completely still.
When Nel next opened his eyes, the seed was there.
The same familiar forest—
a quiet grove on the far side of the moon, where Earth could not see.
Nel took a slow breath, gathered his thoughts, and gently fixed his gaze on the seed.
Just as the voice had told him, he breathed into it—all the memories he had gathered.
“Popon… popon…”
The seed trembled softly and began to emit a gentle glow.
Nel closed his eyes and listened to its sound.
A faint tremor stirred the soil beneath it.
“It’s sprouting!”
From within the shell, the swollen bud slowly began to push outward.
The seed quivered once more, releasing a warm light.
A pale green sprout peeked through a crack in the shell,
then stretched upward—
as if pointing to something far beyond.
Upward, and upward still—
the new shoot rose without hesitation.
Before long, the sprout of the cosmic seed began to stretch its stems in every direction,
spreading out,
each one connecting to the next like constellations in the sky.
As if the seed were painting its own memories across the heavens.
Who would have imagined
that such a vast world could be held
within something so small?
Who would have imagined
that such a vast world could be held
within something so small?
The heartbeat of stars.
The dreams of fish.
The memories etched into stone.
The strange beings he met on the Lost Star—
Nel saw each of them reflected in the sky above.
Wrapped in the great breath of the cosmos,
he let himself be swept up in its vastness for a little while.
And then, his eyes found a single star, shining more brightly than the rest.
In that moment, Nel understood: it was his dream—one he himself had imagined long ago, never spoken aloud, hidden deep within his heart.
But the universe had remembered.
And through the light of that star,
it gently whispered back to Nel.
“Popon... popon...”
The sound, so familiar by now,
rose this time from deep within his own body.
That dream—now I know I can make it real.
The stars of the cosmic seed shimmered in time with Nel’s heartbeat,
as if echoing his rhythm.
And with a clear resolve,
Nel began to run.
The cosmic seed, now bearing Nel’s dream,
spread a dazzling new world across the once quiet night sky.
And the sky, gently and without resistance, embraced the change—
welcoming a brand new constellation
between the stars.
Created by/ Kaori Maki x G.F.T(Generative FantasyTransmitter)
Photograph / Daisuke Oki