“Transition of Life”

 

 

 Since 2005 I started to draw the zoomed images of flowers, focusing on the central part of flowers especially pistils and stamens using Japanese painting materials. That is because I’d like to investigate what life is. I use the word life as meaning of all the living creatures and plants. Life is part of nature. Nature is continuously sustainable since it first appeared on the earth.

 

 By the information of DNA, if one individual life died, the gene will continue in the new life which is born. So life is neve end as a kind or species of life. That is the life cycle of the nature. I think this natural eco system is wonderful and mysterious.

 

 So I’d like to symbolize this eco system in the picture of pistils and stamens of the flowers. It is a place where DNA exists.

 

  I have started this series of work called “A fragment of memory” since 2005. It is because the information of life is memorized in DNA. So this is symbolic part of the memory. The reason why I chose camellia flowers for my paintings was that the part of pistils and stamens were very big and outstanding on these flowers. So it is good to show my intension. It is obvious on my paintings. I intended to cut out the images as a fragment, so that this enlarged size was suitable for me. We can imagine the whole images as the big size from the fragments of images.

 

 At this moment, I only drew a central part of camellia flowers, so it does not matter whether it is on the tree or on the ground.

 

But later on I shifted my position to focus on the flower damaged or dead on the ground.

 

When I looked at a flower on the ground, I was impressed by it. It was so vivid and beautiful as if it was still alive.

 

 I was fascinated with its appearance. I doubted that it is still alive or dead.

 

 So I thought how I can find out the border of life living and death.

 

 A title is a kind of hint or giving way to understand the paintings which have meanings that I wanted to say, or my concept.

 

 I started my series of works from “fragment of memory” since 2005 and then the concept continued to the series called “memory of life” since 2008, then “transition of life” since 2009. And another series was titled as “invisible life” around 2011.

 

 I made the title, “invisible life” because what we can see is only a shape, form and color of the object. However like information of DNA or essence of eco system of the nature, we can never look at them by the eyes. It is invisible. That is why I named this title to my recent series of works.  I am still in the cloud. I mean I haven’t found an answer that how I can represent this invisible essence of life visible, yet. I am trying to represent it visually obvious.

 

 At first, I drew flowers in its most beautiful time, but gradually I shifted to focus on its short life as individual. So I started to drew some damaged flowers later on.

 

 Usually Japanese painters drew flowers in its prime moment traditionally. Landscapes of four seasons, animals, birds and flowers were popular motives in Japanese paintings.

 

 But, I am interested in the reality. So that I chose the aged flowers like Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

 

 Another series of my works are called “joy of life”. I put double meanings into my work. One is to respect for the nature and the other is to represent my internal emotion, mind and memories.

 

  I represent them into the title of my work sometimes.

 

 “Joy of life” is my dream, but it isn’t easy sometimes. But sometimes I feel joy. The motif is also a camellia flower this time.

 

 But I tried to make it ambiguous by cut out from enlarged image and also I made it out of focus. It is rather an abstract painting.

 

 Here color, light and atmosphere are more important than the forms. 

 

  On the other hand, I have also worked on printmaking. I tried to examine the difference which comes from the different material, technique or method.  I graduated from university in Japan. My major was Japanese painting. Then I have studied abroad in London for 4 years and half. Because I was interested in different culture and also wanted to learn printmaking.  At that time I focused on printmaking & photo media.

 

 I experienced very different culture. Especially Japanese painting and Western contemporary art that I have studied in London were very different.

 

 Now I am considering how I can combine both of them. I am still questioning myself what I should do or what art is. I am always thinking what I can do as an artist and as a member of society to the society. This is a big subject, so that I have nothing to say about it anymore.

 

 I have studied various kinds of printmaking techniques like etching, lithography and screen printing. I worked more on screen printing at London time.

 

 In the series “joy of life”, I enjoyed some experiments. It was probably I felt joy when I made them. I haven’t drawn them precisely and I enjoyed the spontaneous result caused in a process of Japanese painting which uses water and we cannot see the finishing appearance until it is dried. Its process is hard to control, but it might be similar to printmaking. It has also a material pleasure of Japanese pigment itself, I think.

 

  I enlarged and cut out the detailed images from the photo which I took.

 

 It is the way I make my painting recently. I use the photography as well in the process of my painting.

 

  I use photograph on my paintings. That is one influence I studied print & photo media in London, I think.

 

 So I am considering the difference between photography and painting.

 

 Usually traditional Japanese painter have never used photograph. Because there was no photo long time ago, but after photography appeared, they still prefer to draw by looking with their eyes and not using photographs. But I do not hesitate to use photography. Photography and painting are different media. And how to combine together both of them is a theme as methodology and it connects with the concept of my art work.

 

Photography can make it possible to see the very detailed images and record them easily.

 

 The technology especially digital photo gave us the new images which we can get easily.

 

 That is an advantage of photo I think, we can see the very small detail by enlargement which is hard to see by our own eyes.

 

 And another advantage or characteristic of photo is that photography is used for documentary. I mean it shows a fact and it can give us the reality of the things. Then I mention the reason that I make my works by paintings.  I use photo and transfer them into paintings. In its process I usually do not manipulate them much, but I only wanted a material surface of the pigment itself and I also wanted to add a trace of my body action as physicality.

 

 I cannot copy the photo perfectly to the paintings, so I omit some unimportant part or I emphasize some part as I like.

 

 These enlarged images are bigger than the real size. This is another point that traditional Japanese paintings have never done.

 

 The reason is that I tried to become a viewpoint of small insects. So flowers are such big size. It implies that to change the viewpoint is to change or realize the relation of human and nature,

 

 I mean, in case of flowers it is standing in a balance of other plants, animals and small insects. By small insects' cooperation flowers can make new lives. It works in a balance of the nature.

 

 By the view of human eyes, Flowers are always recognized as flowers in its real size. But I wonder how it is seen by small insects. I guess it cannot see the whole images of flowers.

 

 That is why I use such a composition and change the size, sometimes so enlarged images and it becomes ambiguous what it is.

 

 About my new series of transition of life, there are dead flowers on the ground.

 

 Dead flowers on the ground mean that they transform their appearance and go back to the earth and then a new life will be borne.

 

 It is an ecological cycle by the ecosystem of the nature. A flower is dead as an individual life, but not dead as a kind of life in sustainable ecosystem as plants. Human life is end in individual, I think. We live natural lives but also live social lives as individuals.

 

 They live differently, I think. I adore this ecosystem. I respect the nature.  By contrast, development of technology and civilization which human being has made are making damage to this natural ecosystem, I warn the situation and criticize it modestly in my artwork.

 

  Before coming to the flower series, I made some works by paintings of trees from the virgin forest. I visited the forest and investigated. Then I made some works from them. I also made a video work at that time.

 

 Through these works, I represented my respect to the nature. And I tried to show its mysterious power.

 

 About 10 years ago, I first visited Asiu, Miyama cho in Kyoto. The place is famous for the traditional village of houses with thatched roof by straw. It is called Kaya-buki.

 

 I made a video work filming the virgin forest at this district. It runs about an hour. It started in the dark and gradually becomes bright. And It is end in the dark again. Mostly natural forest and some parts are virgin forest. It means that it has never touched by human. So we can study the ecosystem how it works by its investigation.

 

 I represent the forest as a symbol of the ecological cycle and power of nature. We can learn how they survive with other kinds of plants, small insects, and animals. They cooperates one another. They can live together and maintain its balance.

 

 It is like one day of the forest from morning to the evening as a natural cycle of repetition.

 

 The aim of this work is at first, I wanted to show the audience how beautiful it is. And then I visited around there with a guide who was a researcher of plants and its ecosystem continuously working in some decades at the forest.

 

 Walking in the forest together with him, I got a lecture from him. This was my starting point that I understood and had interest in ecology and crisis of ecosystem. It is a crisis of the forest now because of changing climate of high temperature caused by CO2 gas.

 

 The forest is dramatically changing badly now.But it is still beautiful now. There are some hundred year trees. I felt the power of nature.

 

 On the other hand some damages caused by human became serious now. I criticized it by using nature sound (bird’s singings and cicada's sound, etc.). I over dubbed and it became unnaturally loud little by little. At last it is noisy. It implies the destruction of the natural balance for number of some kinds of animals or insects.

 

 I used to work on many different media. Especially I made a lot of printmaking like screen printings and etchings while I have been studying in London between 1994 and 1998.

 

 I also used some photographic images and mixed them with printmaking. The theme of my works has also been shifted.

 

 I changed my theme many times. The turning point has come twice. One was when I was in London. And the second time was while I was teaching at an University and visited the virgin forest.

 

 My theme when I was in London was communication. I was interested in the language and human beings. My interest was to examine how to understand each other with people in different culture.

 

 However, after I studied about ecology, I realized how foolish the human beings are. At that point, I felt a big disappointment.

 

 But I still carry on working and am trying to send some messages through my work. That is why I still have a little hope to the society that is made by us including me.

 

 

 

XYZM    2015