art works by XYZM
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In 1994, I studied abroad in London. I quit my high school art teacher and decided to move to England, where I had no acquaintance at all, and enter university again from scratch to study art.
It was a big decision to quit my job, but I still want to be an artist.
I felt strongly that studying abroad in London was the best way to fulfill that dream that I couldn't throw away.
Anyway, it is the start of my new life, abandoning a stable life. And this was my second youth, and a turning point that changed my artist life.
I stayed in London for 4 years, and before that, I went to a language school in the town of Hove in the south of England to study English, so the total study abroad period is 4 and a half years, but I'm really glad I studied abroad. I think it was.
If I hadn't studied abroad in England, I wouldn't be there now. My life was completely different.
During my four years in London, I worked hard every day from morning till night. I've never been so absorbed in production.
But at this time, I enjoyed making it more than anything else, and I could feel my evolution every day. It was the most fulfilling and immersive time in my artist life.
Studying in London was the biggest turning point for me as an artist. It was an encounter with contemporary art.
The artist I was most influenced by at the time was Sol LeWitt. I wanted to draw as simple as possible by contrasting lines and surfaces (shapes), organic and inorganic, and eliminating colors. I wanted to draw a minimal drawing rather than a painting.
And on the next stage, I met conceptual art and faced a new style change, and in parallel with this, this series of minimum drawings continued throughout my stay in London.
Let's start with this series of abstract works.
recyclable printing / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.100
THE TIMES (95-4-1) / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.10
”This is the front page of The Times the day after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Except for the barcode, it's full of sadness.”
no smoking / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.10
Marlboro (95-3-1) / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.10
man & woman / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.10
a person sitting in a wheelchair / 770 x 550 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.10
Coke 95/ 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.5
Coke 95-2 / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1995 / Ed.5
Coke 95-3 / 800 x 600 x 25 mm / screen print on acrylic sheet, cans, frame / 1995
MIND THE GAP / 1100 x 770 mm / photographs on paper / 1995
MIND THE GAP 2 / 1100 x 770 mm / photographs on paper / 1995
MIND THE GAP 3 / dimensions valuable / collagraph, screen print on paper / 1995
untitled / installation at show windows , Central St. Martins College / 1996
MA Degree show installation at Central St. Martins College 1996
my obsessions / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1996
my obessions / post cards / 1996
untitled (from "my obsessions")/screen print on fabric, wood panels, mannequins, paint / 1996
untitled (from "my obsessions")/screen print on fabric, wood panels, 2000 x 4000 mm / 1996
untitled (from "my obsessions")/screen print on fabric, wood panels, mannequins, paint / 1500 x 6600 mm / 1996
London era 2
What I tried to do here was to make a copy of various signs, advertisements, etc. in the city, without changing the color or shape at all.
So what I have changed was their context. Even with the same visual image, that is, the same sign, the meaning changes if the context changes. I wanted to change the meaning just by moving the image from the street to the context of art.
In a straightforward example, my work "man & woman" is a screen print of the exact toilet sign, but once in the context of art, it doesn't represent a toilet, it's gender. It will be a work that has the meaning of asking the problem of gender.
In this way, I copied the various road signs, public signs, and advertisements in the city as they were into screen printing works.
The Coca-Cola sign is a symbol of capitalism or commercialism, but what I wanted to do here was to imitate Andy Warhol, my number one hero at the time.
He himself asked what is originality, but I also learned from his concept and dared to ask what is originality, not a copy of his work itself, but his concept as an artist. I wanted to raise the issue again by copying it.
Humans are creatures that imitate. To imitate is to learn, and people form their own identity by making copies of various people.
Then is there no originality? People copy parts from various people, and the person "I" is determined by the combination of the copies.
Therefore, the human being “I” is made up of copies of the ideas of various people, but the combination is unique to me, and that is the uniqueness of the human being “I”.
Under this philosophy, I created my work to find out what my identity is.
And it's not an original supreme principle, it understands the history of art in the past and the sounds that are influenced by the works of various artists today. I copied the concept, not the work of my favorite artist. I wanted to ask what is originality.
Next to Andy Warhol, I copied Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer.
The "MIND THE GAP" series is the culmination of these works. By moving this sign from the subway platform into the context of art, I changed its meaning to "there is a gap between people. Be careful."
And I eliminated all the visual images and made a text-only work like Jenny Holzer.
However, the text is not what I thought, but rather a quote, that is, a copy, cut out, and transferred to another context, such as a text such as a display written in the city or in various places.
Combining them, I made one poem. That work was one of my goals, and this time I learned from Jenny Holzer again, printed the text on various media, and exhibited it as a work of art. That is my MA degree work at Central St. Martins College.
The next project was "Exhibition on the Train".
This time, on the contrary, it is an experiment to wonder what would happen if the work made as art was moved from the context of art to the street.
The street here was the subway.
I got the word "MIND THE GAP" from the subway that I use every day to go to school and made it an art work. This time I brought the art work I made to the subway.
The work imitated the style of Barbara Kruger's work, creating a work as if it were her work.
Putting the work on the street is exactly her concept.
By imitating her method, it is easy to imagine that this work would be criticized for lack of originality.
However, according to the philosophy mentioned above, no matter how much I imitate her, there is something that cannot be imitated, the subtle difference between her work and my work, and that is my uniqueness and originality. Isn't it?
With that in mind, I wanted to discover my uniqueness that I didn't understand yet, so I tried this work and project.
XYZM 2022
Everyone has his own god in his mind. / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
Everyone has her own god in her mind. / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
You must be free from your obsessions. / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
I must be free from your obsessions. / 770 x1100 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
I hurt her with my words. / 770 x 1100 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
Love is not for sale. / 770 x 1100 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
Hungry please help if you can. / 770 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
To forget is to live. / 1100 x 770 mm / screen print on paper / 1997 / Ed.8
Exhibition on the Train 1997
Still Life with Cockscomb / 125 x 125 mm / etching on paper / 1998
COSMOS / 250 x 365 mm / etching on paper / 1999 / Ed.50
ROSE / 275 x 365 mm / etching on paper / 1999 / Ed.50
CAMELLIA / 365 x 570 mm / etching on paper / 1999 / Ed.50
ROSE / 365 x 570 mm / etching on paper / 1999 / Ed.50
PEONY / 570 x 365 mm / etching on paper / 1999 / Ed.50
A ROSE / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
PEONY 1 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
PEONY 2 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
TULIP 1 / 910 x 650 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
TULIP 2 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
A ROSE / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.16
PEONY 1 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
PEONY 2 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
TULIP 1 / 910 x 650 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
TULIP 2 / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2000 / Ed.20
LOVE SONG / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2001 / Ed.10
MOTHER / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2001 / Ed.8
MEMORY / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2002 / Ed.20
LOST MEMORIES / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2003 / Ed.18
FLOW / 650 x 910 mm / screen print on paper / 2003 / Ed.18
Filled / Japanese pigment on Japanese Paper / 333 X 242 mm / 2004
Dependence / Japanese pigment on Japanese Paper / 333 X 242 mm / 2004
Gentleness / Japanese pigment on Japanese Paper / 910X 652 mm / 2004
Nearness of you / Japanese pigment on Japanese Paper / 910X 652 mm / 2004
Restart in Japan
After returning to Japan from London, I couldn't adapt to the changes in the environment immediately, and I couldn't get a place for production or presentation, so I had a hard time for a while.
I wanted to continue my artist activities with the concept of the London era, but it didn't go as I expected and I was once frustrated.
After that, I became a university faculty member and was able to get a place for production and presentation, but this time there were restrictions due to invisible pressure, and my works I made in London was not appreciated, so I had to change the style of the work.
I realized that human beings are creatures that change depending on the environment.
Still, I didn't quit production. No matter what the restrictions or the environment, the work is my expression, and it expresses myself.
Anyway, I continued to produce and present works that would be acceptable and what I could do in the environment of the time.
When I look at it now, those works still represent myself at that time, and clearly express my thoughts and feelings.
“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
In this series I draw some animals which are nominated as Endangered Species (at present time 2016). The motivation that I started this series of works came up to me through my past work of Forest series. Then I researched forest and studied ecology. I could not avoid being involved in the problem of “global warming”.
I have gradually known that the global warming is having bad influence on many kinds of creatures on the earth. It is said that the global warming is suspected to be the main reason of this dramatic destroying of the very important natural system called “biodiversity”. Not only plants, but also animals are involved in this situation.
Although details are little different depending on researchers, at present time it is in an amazing speed that many species are going to be extinct or endangered.
By this negative change, biodiversity is going to be broken and when some natural climate changes globally, there will not be enough kind of species to adjust that change and maintain their lives.
If this damage to biodiversity will not be stopped and recovered, we cannot deny all the creatures on the earth would be extinct in the near future.
Then what has caused such a serious ecological problem? It is said that it relates to the global warming, although there are some different understandings by some scientists who insist that the reason is not only by the global warming.
Here the percentage is not sure, but in the past all the environmental changes including global warming which was caused by the change of Sun’s activities for instance, were only caused by nature.
However this time the reason of the ecological change (destroying) is suspected by the activity of economy or lives by human being to the natural environment. So this crisis was caused by human maybe.
How can we take responsibility as human beings? And it is not sure whether we can solve it or not.
I am not a scientist but only an artist. What can I do? I can only make some artworks and insist on this crisis through my artworks. Off course it is also an important matter how I live in personal.
I think we should start to admit our fault that we have done until now. And we must think the solution from now. I would like to share this problem with other people. And I am going to consider what I should do and how I live in the future.
For that we should share much information and select and combine them. Then we should make an answer to solve them. We should live and make action obeying the answer, I suppose.
Anyway I do not wish the earth will be a planet without any creatures. I hope this sustainable creatures’ world is continuing.
I only hope to get back to the good environment that natural ecosystem can work.
It must be the issue of the next generation in the world, too. We cannot avoid sharing this matter with them.
XYZM 2016
