Philosophy & Background

The origin of my creative work lies in a defeat experienced in my youth, and the subsequent journey of rebirth.

At the age of eight, inspired to pursue a career as a painter, I was forced to abandon my dream of attending an art university due to color vision deficiency. I found myself in a state of profound isolation, feeling completely abandoned by the world.

That changed at age 25, during a visit to New York, where I encountered the art of dyeing. When I experienced vivid colors born as dye soaked deep into fabric, holding and reflecting light, I was struck by a revelation that still serves as my driving force: "Color is truly this beautiful."

At the core of my expression lies the beauty of silk fabric, which radiates as it absorbs and reflects light. In the phenomenon of dyeing—where dye merges completely with the fibers—I believe there is an essential power that transcends the limits of human retinal perception and stirs the human soul.

I am convinced that it was precisely this phenomenon of dyeing that inspired Mark Rothko to discover new possibilities in his staining technique. Similarly, the contours of life captured by Georgia O’Keeffe evoke the observational drawings created in Japan prior to their transformation into traditional kimono patterns. In the act of dyeing on silk, I feel a potential that stretches far beyond the horizons pursued by these two masters across different eras and techniques, far from Japan.

Furthermore, I regard fabric—the medium of my expression—as the form of art closest to our daily lives. Since ancient times, people have dyed cloth and rendered patterns upon it to express themselves. I aim to present my work as an art that resides intimately alongside the rhythms of human existence.

In recent years, overcoming a severe illness led me to encounter Noh, the traditional Japanese performing arts—an experience that deepened both my expression and philosophy. On the Noh stage, where reality and fiction, life and death intersect, I view myself as the Waki—the supporting actor and catalyst connecting the physical world with the realm beyond. The released artwork itself is none other than the Shite—the main actor embodying that beyond. The visible world is not all that exists; there is a tangible presence in the invisible world as well. This conviction has allowed me to embrace my color vision deficiency not as a limitation, but as a rich, expansive lens through which to perceive the world.

The visible and the invisible, the self and the other, this world and the world beyond—the boundaries (Awai) that appear to separate them are, in truth, seamlessly continuous, opening up infinite possibilities.