"I loved drawing from a young age and recognized it as my specialty. When I was about 14 years old, I started learning to draw because I wanted to be able to create something special with my own hands.
I started with drawing, then experienced watercolor painting, and finally ended up with oil painting. I felt that drawing and watercolor painting were very similar, and I felt that watercolor painting in particular was a "colored drawing".
Among them, oil paintings had a very unique impression, and I felt that they fit most comfortably in my hands. Since then, I have continued to paint in oil."
-Do you have a fixed style when drawing your work?
For example, sometimes I wake up at 5 a.m. and start drawing, and sometimes I stay up until that time and sleep from there. When I start drawing, I concentrate, and while I wait for the oil to dry, I use it for preparatory work such as sketching."
―Do you always make your work after drawing a sketch?
"That's right. There are two patterns when drawing a sketch, one is the feeling that the brush moves forward the moment you put the pencil on the paper. The other is to have an overall image from the beginning and draw it on a blank sheet of paper.
Sometimes things don't go as well as I want, but drawing itself doesn't bother me at all. When I'm facing the work, I feel like I'm having a one-on-one conversation."
"I had osteomyelitis in my right jaw and was hospitalized for about a month. Until I was discharged from the hospital after surgery, I was thinking about my future. The answer I got was the desire to continue painting. After that, I began to think, "How can I continue to draw for the rest of my life?"
―Did you get the answer?
"First of all, I think I have no choice but to continue drawing, and I often receive advice from various people that it is better to compete overseas, so I would like to set up a base overseas in the future."
― Does the answer you gave at this time lead to your current style?
"I think it had a big impact. At the same time, I also came across the puppet works of Hans Vermeer, a German painter, photographer, and puppeteer.
Since I was little, I have been strongly attracted to shapes and lines. For example, picking up fallen leaves that have fallen leaves and collecting beautiful stones. When I saw Vermeer's work, I felt that I was connected to the "desire to be attracted to form" within me, and I intuitively thought, "This is it." Since then, I have continued to paint in my current style."
"I won an award for my work called 'Moonlight Bath,' which was drawn by connecting two issues of No. 50, but at first I didn't feel it at all. But I was very happy when the judges said, 'It feels like reminding me of Vermeer's work.'"
―While there are many works in red color overall, "Moonlight Bath" is impressive for its whiteness that emerges in the deep blue. What are your thoughts on color?
"I have worked on works in various colors such as blue, green, and yellow, and among them, red is the one that I felt was the most compatible. I also changed the way I drew blue and red. The blue work is highlighted in white, but in the case of red, the highlight is made by scraping the paint and making use of the white of the base. This method has been used since around the 15th century, when oil painting was born, and I myself like the old-fashioned way of drawing, so I have adopted it."
―Finally, please tell us what you want to convey through your work.
"I feel that the current social situation and atmosphere are declining and declining, and I think that the answer to this lies in the beauty of human beings that I feel. My style is decadent, and I will continue to do so in the future. Maybe there are moments in the work where you feel cruelty or grotesqueness. But on the other hand, I hope you can also feel the beauty that exists there. Just as I was inspired by Vermeer, it doesn't have to be everyone, so I want to continue to create works that penetrate someone deeply."