In Mari Katayama's provocative photos, a rare condition that she has suffered from since early childhood -- which resulted in an amputation of both legs at age 9 -- takes center stage.
The Japanese artist's body features prominently in her images, surrounded with painstakingly arranged objects, both in intimate settings or set against vast landscapes.
In her "bystander" series, stuffed arms are placed in a tentacle-like fashion, alongside her own two residual limbs.
When Katayama was working as a bartender, a drunk customer told her "a woman is no longer a woman when not wearing high heels." In response, the artist started a project to create heels for her prosthetic legs.
The artist's solo exhibition "Mari Katayama: On the Way Home" was recently on show at the Museum of Modern Art, Gunma in March.
It featured self-portraits of Katayama on river banks where she had spent her formative years. Next year, shows in her native Japan, as well as in Europe and U.S. are tentatively planned.
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