Introduction
The three series presented in this exhibition stem from a distinct psychological sensation. I wonder if you have ever had this experience: in certain moments, you suddenly feel yourself "stepping back" from your own body. While your eyes still see and your body moves as usual, it feels as if you are observing another person’s life through a pane of transparent glass. It is a state of perceptual detachment and dissociation. At the core of this body of work is an attempt to translate this intangible, ineffable psychological distance into a tangible physical space that can be seen and felt within the gallery.
Painting is neither reality nor merely a dream. Before the canvas lies reality; within it is the reality I construct.
Thin paper, Rakusuishi, and acrylic sheets appear in different ways across the three series, yet they all perform the same gesture: to separate, or to conceal. Far from being decorative, they serve as the structure itself—the material manifestation of that distance. Meanwhile, in the series addressing estrangement, I use acrylic panels to disrupt this distinct boundary through mirroring and reflection.
The vessels of memory are these bygone objects—mosaic bathtubs, terrazzo floors, outdoor banquet tables (bando), and joss paper burners. Drawn from various facets of my childhood, bearing the accumulation of time and emotional weight. Rather than reconstructing events, these works distill a fleeting perceptual moment from within these familiar scenes.
For me, painting is an attempt to render that ever-present yet ineffable distance visible and perceptible.
Artwork List
- Aged Bathtub Series
- Drifting Series
- Estrangement Series