red line #55
red line #56
red line #57
red line #58
red line #59
red line #61
red line #63
red line #65
red line #72
New form of work
In January 2024, I saw Shiori Matsuura's solo exhibition at Maruzen in Nagoya. At first I thought it was a Japanese painting, but it turned out to be a fully digital illustration.
I have been involved in Japanese painting for a long time, so I know that when the definition of Japanese painting comes up, opinions are divided between the materials and style, and some say that it is a Japanese painting that has both. When I look at works like this, I start to think that the definition of Japanese painting doesn't matter; all that matters is whether the work is wonderful and attractive, and the genre doesn't matter.
Ms. Matsuura's works are fully digitally created and printed on paper as necessary, so of course the material is not that of Japanese painting, but the style of painting is influenced by Shoen Uemura. The techniques used in this work are very rich in elements of traditional Japanese painting, and it can be said that they symbolized Japanese painting and recreated it using modern digital technology.
Putting logic aside, whether it is digitally drawn or hand-drawn with paint on paper, it is still an original hand-drawn work by Ms. Matsuura, and there is no doubt about the accuracy of her technique and her artistic sense. It's beautiful and attractive.
It is avery Japanese worldview that perfectly combines the motif of modern women and classical techniques.
Because I was involved in Japanese painting at work, I had always been held captive by the word "Japanese painting," but now that I have retired from work and finally been freed from Japanese painting, I am now a free person. , I am naturally attracted to Japanese painting-like things and incorporate them into my own work, or rather, I have to forcefully reject the appearance of Japanese-painting things that are ingrained in my body in things I create naturally. I started thinking that I should just accept it naturally.
The colored red line series that I started in 2024 was inspired by seeing this Matsuura's work.
This is a new form of work that naturally came out of me, but before I knew it, it had something similar to Japanese painting.
I also want to do what I want, digitally, but with a free style that is not bound by anything.
XYZM 2024
Free art
I do art that can be done for 0 yen. Art supplies are free, advertising fees are free, presentations are free, and I have a small number of sales results. I am established as an artist without spending any money at all. Of course I can't make a living off of it, but I don't think a professional artist is necessarily someone who can make a living off of it.
XYZM 2024
Art that doesn't make things
What is art? Is it about making things? I stopped drawing pictures on paper, presenting them, and selling them.
You can make things, or you don't have to make them.
What I am creating now is just digital data and digital signals. It's just a sign, but it's definitely an expression of myself.
Yes, art is about expressing yourself through your life and the way you live your life. Therefore, what I am doing now is nothing but art.
XYZM 2024
About red line series
The red line is an image of that red thread that is often said to be connected by the red thread of fate. Throughout my life, I have not been able to find a person with whom I am connected by the red thread of fate. It seems that my red thread was connected not to people but to my work. I couldn't get married or have children, but I created art instead. My work is proof that I lived in this world, and I want it to continue to live on even after I die and be passed on to future generations. I started drawing with red lines.
XYZM 2024
Eraser art
As I wrote before, the reason for using an eraser as a motif was simply because I happened to receive it at a pharmacy, but I do attach meaning to the fact that it is an eraser.
An eraser is a tool that can erase what you have written. I want to erase my past. I wanted to erase everything I had ever done, everything I had left behind, all my painful memories and unpleasant things.
Food gives me joy. Eating delicious food is my greatest pleasure in life. And it is also what connects life.
The food-shaped eraser is a fake food that is not real, but I feel like it is a symbol that gives me hopes and dreams.
XYZM 2024
