“Kanji-kus are short poems based on the Japanese kanji or ideogram for the word itself.”[1] That means, that Children’s time is organized in the shape of the Japanese sign for Child and that the author wants to “explore the innate meanings”[2] of this sign with her work. In an e-mail interview with Cristina Fdez de Gorostiza Samper she writes:

 

 

Children's time is one of about 10 kanji-lkus.  In all my kanji-kus, I
 explore the way that the shape of the Japanese word means, how it fits
 together.  I want to bring out subtleties in the shape and structure of
 the word itself. In Father figures, for example, I juxtaposed the two
 crossing sides with a flashback to the past about the father and what it
 means in the present to be a father.  In Children's Time, the
 outstretched arms suggest to me a child running, an exuberant play.[3]

 



[1] Deena Larsen: http://www.deenalarsen.net/ (last viewed on the 10/12/08)

[2] Deena Larsen: http://www.deenalarsen.net/ (last viewed on the 10/12/08)

[3] Deena Larsen: http://mural.uv.es/fersam/emaildeena.html (last viewed on the 10/12/08)