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A New Piece, #107
My studio is in woods. Sometimes, when I walk back to our house at night, the darkness erases traces of “civilization” and confronts me with an uncanny feeling of being in nature alone.
The other night, on the freshly snowed ground, I spotted the foot prints of a creature. From the size and shape, it must have been a fox. I’ve only seen two of them around. One time, the circle of my flashlight revealed a small owl on the ground. It must have been startled by the light, it was frozen. It was a rare sighting of the unusually shaped bird at a close range.
My mind struggles to imagine their lives but it only ends in feeling a sense of awe toward them and their habitat.
Working in my studio sort of mirrors those experiences. Sometimes I get to encounter something that I want to share with you. Thank you for seeing my work.
#107, 54 x 64 x 10 inches, pigmented resin, 2025
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New photos of #101
In News onThings change, people die, and your dog might die too, but you are still there. Your physical surroundings remain the same but your heart feels like a winter garden—the naked branches, the frozen ground and the cold wind.
But the naked branches are full of buds, frozen ground holds seeds and the cold wind ensures that the life stays protected underground until the spring comes.
#101, 40”x24 1-2”x15”, painted resin, 2024” -
A new piece, #106
In Art, Artist, creative process, From the Studio, making process, new work, News, Painting, Sculpture onIn the series of smaller works I recently started, I use the by-products of the pigmented resin sheets which cover the surfaces of the larger pieces. I have a big pile of those bits and pieces. It’s interesting that a process for other pieces leads to a starting point for something else. When materials are processed, it gives me glimpses of possibilities beyond established rules and frameworks. Very fascinating.
Also, I enjoyed (struggled) with some paintery stuff with this one, which I appreciated since I probably miss the flexibility of working on 2D surfaces.
#106, 14”x18”x2 1/4”, paint and pigmented resin on wood, 2025
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A New Piece, #105
In News onI’ve been working on some smaller pieces in addition to a few larger ones. I’ve sort of resisted smaller pieces since I tend to be comfortable working on a human scale. I like how the pieces relate to you and it’s natural to work on them for me. Also, as anyone who works in the field would know, you are often asked “do you have anything smaller?” So perhaps I’ve been intentionally cautious since I tend to value what comes naturally in the studio as opposed to responding to the outside pressure.
The way I work with resin produces byproducts—bits and pieces of resin material when I cut out sheets to cover the surfaces. I have a pile of them. Some of them are sort of interesting, echoing the shapes of cutouts and reflecting the process in natural ways. So when I was asked to give a couple of small pieces for a benefit, I tried using them for making small pieces.
I actually had fun working with the handheld size. It’s faster and less strenuous in terms of the process. It takes a bit in switching the gear in being intuitive about it, but it’s allowing me to develop an interesting path.
#105, 12”x24”x2 3/4”, painted resin, 2024
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New Additions to the site, November 4, 2024
4 new pieces have been added to the sculpture section.
#104, 60” x 41 1/2” x 7”, painted resin, 2024
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Hiroyuki Hamada at Bookstein Projects, April 2024
Years ago I watched Agnes Martin’s interview. She was describing how ideas we take for granted get in the way of her perceptions while she paints. Emptying those ideas can be a challenge. She was saying that she was struggling with Darwinism. At the time, this really didn’t hit me, but over the years this idea has become clearer to me.
In order for a work of art to affect us viscerally to our core, the elements we deal with must be observed for what they are, and the dynamics among them must not be dictated by external imperatives which can suffocate our perceptions and prevent the relations among the elements to be restricted within the artificial framework of the social formation.
As we grow from a baby to an adult, we learn rules to be a good citizen. We are conditioned to adjust our thoughts and behaviors to fit within the norms of workers who prop up “democracy”, “freedom”, “humanity”, “justice” and so on. And we are taught what those words mean by those who use those words to profit and secure their positions high above us.
It is a challenge for us to really feel and act so that our feelings and actions do contribute for us in meaningful ways—something we learn to forget to be a good citizen. But I believe this is a must for my studio activities to make a work which resonates in a profound way.
My next show in NYC opens in April of 2025 at Bookstein Projects. @booksteinprojects
Have a wonderful day my friends.
#101, 15 x 40 x 24 inches, painted resin, 2024 -
Two New Pieces, #102 and #103
I’ve been planting fruit trees and shrubs around the studio. It’s so exciting to figure out how plants grow and see them grow. Working with soil wasn’t the thing when I lived in a city. But ever since I moved to where I am, growing vegetables has taught me the rhythm of seasons and forming a little food forest teaches me about how I relate to space. I often wake up early, sometimes even before sun rise, to get to the garden. I see how the sun shifts and transforms the views. Sunset comes with a sense of calmness and wonder. How long can I be alive to feel this?
Leonard Cohen sang that everybody knows the good guys lost. Still, war continues and slaughter of our fellow humans has been as normalized as the demonization of the resistance. The cage of capitalism, with the help of new technologies, has become smaller with more rules, further domesticating the ways we express and relate to each other. But just as indigenous people still survive without their stolen lands we live under the new reality.
Regardless, the guiding hand in my studio keeps moving just as it does in my garden.
Two new small pieces:
#102 8x10x3 inches, painted resin, 2024
#102 detai,l 8x10x3 inches, painted resin, 2024
#102 detai,l 8x10x3 inches, painted resin, 2024
#103, 9x12x2 inches, painted resin, 2024
#103, 9x12x2 inches, painted resin, 2024
#103 detail, 9x12x2 inches, painted resin, 2024,
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Images from lucent at Wexford Arts Centre
I was born in Tokyo. We moved to the suburb. I grew up on asphalt. I saw natural surroundings turn into houses and more paved lands. By the time I felt being stuck in the concrete jungle dictated by the corporate values totally disillusioned by everything, I was also a product of the western liberal democracy. The only thing that was real was the raw rage and frustration. Then I met art. I dedicated myself to it. I found my spot in the society. But now, I clearly remember the rage, and I feel it, being trapped in the current situation. I guess many feel the same way. I see people moving out to rural areas only to become new breeds of gentrifiers. Technologies under the current social formation emulate its imperatives, and minds dictated by it affirm them. Same is true for the social institutions. The fundamental fact is that we are social beings. The colonization of technologies, as well as social institutions, is a theft of collective power by the ruling class. Is it the gun that kills people or the people? I just saw “Gun Crazy”, a film noir from 1950. The question keeps rhyming with ever deeper implications. Anyway, have a wonderful day my friends.
Images from Lucent currently open at Wexford Arts Centre in Wexford Ireland. The traveling group show curated by David Quinn will be up till July 30, 2024. The show will travel to the Lewinsky Gallery, The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, England next.
The exhibition includes works by Charles Brady, Niamh Clarke, Hiroyuki Hamada, Vincent Hawkins, Tjibbe Hooghiemstra , Jamie Mills, Janet Mullarney, Helen O’Leary, David Quinn, Seamus Quinn, Sean Sullivan, John Van Oers
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10am – 5pm and Saturday from 10am – 4pm.
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New Painting, Untitled Painting 052
In News onA new painting is added to the painting section of the site. Click the image for various views and details.
Untitled Painting 052, 60 x 40 in, acrylic on wood, 2024
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Lucent at Highlanes Gallery
The traveling show Lucent curated by David Quinn has opened Saturday February 10th at its 2nd venue Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda Ireland .
The show features works by twelve artists. David as a curator certainly reflects his keen perception for unknown, indescribable visual sensation and delicate yet tangible, visceral presences apparent in his paintings. The venue used to be a church, converted into a community art place. It houses multiple exhibition spaces. It is located in the heart of the ancient town known for its historical monuments, an hour north of Dublin by car.
The exhibition includes works by Charles Brady, Niamh Clarke, Hiroyuki Hamada, Vincent Hawkins, Tjibbe Hooghiemstra , Jamie Mills, Janet Mullarney, Helen O’Leary, David Quinn, Seamus Quinn, Sean Sullivan, John Van Oers
The exhibition will travel to Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland in June. Then it will travel to the UK early next year.
Here is more info about Lucent: https://lucent.international/