InterviewFeatured Artist

 
　
"I've always liked drawing since I was a child, and I often drew illustrations and manga. Later, in an art class in junior high school, the teacher told me, "You should definitely paint oil paintings because you are an oil painter," and I came into contact with oil painting for the first time in high school. As my teacher advised, I felt very comfortable with oil painting, so I went straight to an art university and continued to create it."  
　
―Your advice was a fateful encounter with oil painting. What do you think is suitable for you about oil paints? 
　
"Unlike other paints, I think that because it is fluid, it is a paint that immediately brings out your inner self at that time. My style has also changed with the passage of time."

 
　
"The central theme is 'life'. In the past, I used to paint landscapes, but landscapes change their appearance for various reasons. For example, there was a plum grove in front of the house where I lived in the past, but the entire area was developed into an urban area and all disappeared. Also, when I moved to a rural area, I experienced the Chuetsu earthquake and naturally became in awe. Because of this, I began to look at the life around me rather than looking at the whole thing, and now I often use vegetables and flowers as motifs. Thanks to my mother's vegetable garden and the fact that there is an orchard near my parents' house, I am now growing vegetables and flowers from seeds. He depicts them raised with his own hands in his works. I feel like I'm alive when things go well or not depending on how I raise them."  
　
-Is there any kind of commitment that you have in common with your works? 
　
"I try to use pink and light blue lines for my line drawings as much as possible, which is an image of human 'nerves'. Back in the day, when I was addicted to making installations when I was in junior college, I used pink and light blue wire hangers as materials. When I entered a major at a junior college, my professor told me to take care of these pink and light blue lines, but I couldn't understand it at the time and graduated. After graduating, I worked at a medical institution, went to university again, and in my fourth year, my teacher said, 'You must have wanted to use these pink and light blue lines,' and it remained in my mind. Also, since I used to work at a medical institution, I think that the fact that I was in a position to feel close to human life was also an opportunity to imagine "nerves".  
　
Also, I think the charm of oil painting is that it is easy to make matière, but in my work, the main motif is drawn smoothly, but the background part is covered with paint so that the handwriting can be seen. By doing so, we create a 'beauty of contrasts.'"  
　
―The overall bright and vivid colors, including pink and light blue lines, are eye-catching. 
　
"There was a time when I was conscious of doing so. When I was taking the university entrance exam, I was forced to use dark colors because they dried quickly, but I didn't like it, I wanted to draw bright pictures. If you use a dark color as a base, the pigment will reflect and create a bright color, so we also devise such a method."

 
　
"Is it a work that was exhibited at the Ikebukuro Art Gathering Exhibition in 2015? It became a large exhibition with nine pictures of flowers of 90 cm square. These nine types of flowers are all grown from seeds, so in that sense, my attachment to them becomes stronger. Another particular point is that the canvas is a perfect square (square shape). It is difficult to think of a composition for a perfect square, but I find it interesting. I carefully think about the composition that does not make the viewer uncomfortable."  
　
―It's gorgeous and eye-catching in terms of color and composition. What kind of impressions do you often get from people who have seen your works? 
　
"I am often told that it makes me feel cheerful. I'm happy because I want people to feel that way. I think that many of the paintings that show the artist's inner world are dark because they also expose emotions such as sadness and pain. Of course, I sometimes feel sad in my daily life, but I want to use sadness as nourishment and turn it into brightness. I want to be like a lotus flower blooming in the mud."  
　
-What are your future prospects as an artist? 
　
In my 20s~30s, I was not blessed with the opportunity to present my works, but now that SNS has developed and more people can see my works, I would like to put more effort into digital presentations. I would also like to actively exhibit in rural areas, from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu and Okinawa in the south. I hope that through my work, I can brighten up the world even a little."