Volume 2 of the Crude Metaphors collection brings together the photographs of Mayumi Hosokura and the words of Liz Lochhead to produce Topiary.

“€œJohnjo passed on the magazine. I was third or fourth to get it. The page it was opened at showed a photograph of a beautiful Japanese girl, lean, naked, her pubic hair just a long black stripe on her otherwise pale, young, androgynous body. Just her in a blank and empty space and some angular neon graffiti. Arty, not erotic. Though how would I know what some folk ‘some guys’€” would find erotic? Nah, this was definitely meant to be art.” - Topiary, Liz Lochhead

Mayumi Hosokura was born in Kyoto in 1979. Since graduating from Nihon University of Art in 2005, she has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Japan, gaining a reputation for her delicate portrayal of nature and a unique perspective on the beauty and intimacy of youth. Mayumi'€™s first solo show, Kazan, was held at G/P gallery, Tokyo, in 2011. The series has subsequently been included in several exhibitions in Europe. Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland.