Going
back, what is your oldest memory of encountering art?
I
would go to art museums in my home town, and there were opportunities to see
other artists’ work in group exhibitions so I had been in contact with art—but
to be honest, these experiences
didn't leave much of an impression on me.
In
another interview, I read that you were influenced by the works of Gutai (Gutai
Art Association).
Yes,
Gutai was formed in Hyogo, so there were quite a few exhibitions at art museums in Hyogo, where
I am also from. When I was in my second year of university, I saw the
works of Sadamasa Motonaga at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art and it was
the first time that I was impressed by the
artwork of another artist besides Kenshiro.
What exactly impressed you—was it the style, the method, or the concept?
This
connects to the concept of my current work, which is
“making the opposites of abstract and concrete coexist”, but at the time I was
drawing realistically and exploring if I could take a concrete image and extract
the abstract nature in opposition to it. It was around this time that I first encountered the work of Sadamasa Motonaga, and I
thought how interesting and fresh color and form could be! After realizing
that, I began to recognize that
color and form are important elements of
abstraction for me.
How
did the concept of the coexistence of abstract and concrete become clear to
you?
Initially, I was drawing landscapes, for example when painting
the underside of overpasses or spiral staircases, I began to find sequences and rhythm
within them. As I continued to draw, trying to see if these elements could emerge from within the concrete
images, it gradually became
clear to me that the beauty and interest of the structure or form were in its colors and shapes.
At first, I tried extracting the abstract
elements like colors and shapes from existing objects, but gradually I shifted to creating my own
motifs.