Koshiro Kihara
Interview (2024)
First, I'd like to start with some background questions. Did you enjoy drawing from a young age?Yes, I did. I have a twin brother named Kenshiro, who also is an artist now, and ever since we were little, the two of us liked to be inside drawing more than playing outdoors.
Were you raised in an environment where you were regularly exposed to art?No, I don’t have any relatives who are connected to the art world. Although I have an uncle who enjoys literature and visiting art museums, I wasn’t directly influenced by him. It was just that Kenshiro and I enjoyed drawing together. It wasn’t an environment where we were close to art.
Could you tell us about what cultures fascinated you, such as music or film?I loved Kamen Rider as a child. I didn’t limit myself to the series that were running in real-time, and I often watched the original series and those from the 1970s as well. My aunt and uncle were from that generation, and they often borrowed DVDs of Kamen Rider from that time, so I was influenced by that. Outside of drawing, that’s the only thing that I can say I was really into when I was young.
When did you start to take notice of art?I’d realized or rather I’d say it was around my first year of high-school when I genuinely thought I’d like to pursue the arts. But, I wanted to become an art teacher more than an artist, so I applied to an educational university with a specialization for art. The reason was that I thought if I got a teaching license I could continue to draw. I began studying dessin for the entrance exams, and you could say this is when I started to be more conscious of art.
What then prompted you to strive to be an artist?When I originally entered university, I was aiming to become an art teacher just like I hoped in high school, but after connecting with my professors, I started to think that being a university professor seemed quite appealing. It was more of a specialized research position rather than just being an art teacher. They could draw during the day, and that seemed really enjoyable to me. From there, my desire to become an artist gradually grew stronger.
After deepening your studies in the arts, creating and presenting your own works, and having them circulate, how has your understanding of "what it means to be an artist" changed through these experiences?There are various changes, but if I had to highlight the most significant one, it would be that I have come to see artwork as a form of communication. The concept of works I am currently creating are very personal, and I only express what I find interesting in my work. Therefore, I think, "it's okay if most people don't understand it," but at the same time, I also feel, "I want people to empathize with some part of it." Furthermore, for me, most of the empathy I seek is from my brother Kenshiro. I want him to think "it's good," and I have a strong desire for him to empathize with my work. I’ve always been very close to him, but since we have both become artists, gaining his empathy has become particularly essential to me.
When did you feel that you had become an artist?Now, as I go through life where I spend almost all my time in the atelier shared with Kenshiro, creating, eating, sleeping, waking up and then creating again. This daily routine was one my dreams as an artist, so while I was certainly happy when I had work on exhibition or my solo shows, I feel like an artist the most during my everyday life.