Indeed, I feel that you express "things as they are" within yourself, but when you materialize that pure essence into a work, is there anything you are conscious of to maintain its purity?It may sound obvious, but I only do what I personally believe is good. When viewed by a third party, it may seem that I am constantly changing my style but it’s simply the result of me following through on doing only what I want to do. As an artist making a living by selling my paintings, I can’t say I haven’t thought about what would happen if my work didn’t sell, but I keep it in mind to not be tricked by those thoughts. I have had regrets about that in the past, and the time spent doing something I do not want to do is the most painful for me.
You don’t make art with the intention to sell?Correct. Doing something because it will sell, or giving up on something because it won’t sell are things that I intentionally avoid doing.
What do you think is necessary to further convey understanding of your works to the viewer when expressing what is within you?I’m sure there are many people in the audience who would like to have an answer in words, but as a creator, if I speak about my works there’s the possibility that it could become the only correct answer. So, I keep my words to the bare minimum and use them only when it’s truly necessary. I intentionally try not to talk about it.
Even so, I would imagine that you need to include some words when presenting and selling your works—does this trouble you?Yes, it’s difficult, but I try to convey my concept with the minimum necessary words. I want to leave just enough of a small hint to help people connect with the work.
Looking back at all your completed works until now, have you had any surprising or oddly satisfying experiences?When I am doing nothing but painting, I can only view it subjectively since I’ve been looking at the same thing for so long, and I lose sight of the interesting elements. On top of that, I have a tendency to lose my self-confidence rather quickly, so when I’m in a rut, Kenshiro takes a look at my work with fresh eyes and gives me his objective opinion, such as telling me what parts of the work he finds interesting. It’s reassuring to hear that, and I can return to my original point of view.
Also, for works that have parted ways with me, when I see them hanging on the beautiful white walls under a spotlight in the gallery, they look so much better than they did in my studio. That’s quite often the moment when I finally think that it’s a good piece of art.
When you immerse yourself in creation and become completely “raw" to yourself, what state are you in?I wonder what that would be. Most of the time, I confine myself in the studio with Kenshiro, painting, eating, sleeping, and going through our daily routine, so I think I’m basically always in my natural state. However, I cannot be my raw self when I am outside of the atelier and need to communicate with other people.
So when you are in the midst of creating, you’re in a fully “raw” state?Yes. I am not forcing anything, and I am completely stress-free. Well, I do experience some stress related to the creation process, but I believe that being able to worry about my work is a form of happiness, so I am basically my true self.
What do you think your true self, which naturally appears in your work, looks like?That’s difficult to say. What comes to mind is that many of my paintings are endearing for whatever reason. Sadamasa Motonaga, who I adore, seems to be a humorous, beloved, and kind old man; and though I’m not endearing in any way, the shapes and colors that appear in my work are quite humorous and lovable. But whether or not this is my “raw” state… I’m not sure.
I’m hesitant to say this but during our conversation today I’ve felt that your purity is rather endearing.You think so? That’s not something I can understand myself at all.
Through your creative process, you have noticed many things and made discoveries, but what have you recently discovered?I discover so much through the fine details of creation every day... Recently, I made an interesting discovery about the trimming method I’ve been using and the collage method Kenshiro uses. Kenshiro combines figures and photographs, takes a photo of the setup, and then paints from that. He recently read a book on Surrealism and remarked that his process is like “three-dimensional collage.” He extracts parts, like clouds from original landscapes or figures with different original purposes, and reconstructs them to create new worlds. He said that this is almost the same method as Surrealist collage. My trimming technique, where the removal of one part results in abstraction through a loss of meaning, is similar. Kenshiro’s collage and my trimming both use techniques to remove meaning, and it was through talking with him that I realized this similarity for the first time.
In your work and creative process, what challenges do you face when expressing your raw self, free from others' expectations and societal norms?Not much time has passed since I’ve started my career as an artist, so I haven’t really found myself in a situation where I have to force myself to do something I don’t want to do. But, the one thing that does influence me is Kenshiro’s response. I’m glad when he says something I’ve done is great, but on the other hand, when he doesn’t give a positive reaction, the shock is huge. I won’t change myself no matter what others say, yet when Kenshiro tells me to try something, I often find myself being influenced by him.
I think that there are feelings that you share because of who the two of you are, but is there anything that is completely different?Kenshiro and I both use photography, and our complex approach to reality and the imaginary is similar, but Kenshiro doesn’t do abstraction at all. In my case, my brain is fully abstract up until the point of taking photographs for my work, and my thoughts become more concrete once I start to paint.
How about your personalities?Generally, our personalities are the same but Kenshiro might be a bit more positive—you could say easy-going, or perhaps optimistic. Compared to him, I tend to take things more seriously and mull things over.
Are there any recent works that resonated with Kenshiro?From my works using cellophane, Kenshiro was very interested in the actual cellophane motif even before I started photographing it. I don’t share the motifs I make in clay and other media with the outside world at all, but I thought these cellophane motifs could possibly become artworks just as Kenshiro said, so I have shared some on social media.