| English | Japanese |
Koshiro Kihara



Please tell us about any challenges you would like to pursue in the future.
I don’t have any solid concepts, but I’d like to do something with Kenshiro. We’ve done exhibitions as a pair, but creating works that are linked together is rather difficult. However, we are testing this out little by little and making such artwork, so it’d be great if we could exhibit it together somewhere in the future.
What specifically do you mean by linked works?
People and places are often featured in Kenshiro’s work, and since they are all used for their meaning, they are all concrete. But I extract only the shapes and colors from that, and I create something that is slightly linked to it using cellophane or paint, and we display our creations next to each other. To give a more concrete example, I draw out only the red portions from a diorama that Kenshiro created, and completely separate from its meaning and content, I change the format and reconstruct it using color and shapes. My creation, which appears abstract at first glance, seems more concrete when placed next to Kenshiro’s work, and Kenshiro’s work, influenced by mine, appears more abstract. This resonance between our works, and how their appearance changes when viewed together, is what makes it interesting.
Is it possible that Kenshiro and you might collaborate on a single piece?
I think I would like to try it. However, it wouldn’t work if we just stuck two of our works together, so it would have to be in some other form. That said, I haven’t even conceptualized what that could be yet.
Finally, do you have any prospects for your individual creations?
For my solo work, I just want to continue making what I want to make. I’m rather easily bored, and once I feel inconvenienced by the smallest thing, I constantly think about what I could do to make it more freeing for me. So, I am merely putting into action these thoughts that continuously come to mind of what I’d like to do next. Additionally, I think it would be great if I could exhibit the actual cellophane objects that Kenshiro told me he liked.