"Art Core"
To explore, find, and fully express the core of art in a single piece of work.
This is the sole and absolute theme of my life. It emerged in my adolescence and provided the basis for three series of works: "Algorithm", a series of paintings on canvas of unique instructions blending brainstorming and algorithms; "Deposition", a series of burned or beaten works; and "Minimalism". I was drawn in by the ontological roots that seemed to underpin such questions as “What is the self-object?” “What exists beyond the eye’s perception?” “What is the conceptual phase?” I wanted not simply to understand but above all to gestate these ideas within myself.
Prior to that time, I had no clearly defined themes at all and thus lacked the focus and resolve to pursue any one theme in depth. As a Japanese-Korean living in the US, my work naturally reflected aspects of these three countries/cultures. However, at the age of 14, I set myself to reexamining a question I had been harboring for some time: What is the meaning of the self and of existence? From that point on, and by perceiving the act of expression as my actual existence, I attempted to personify various concepts in my artistic expression, imagining what kind of artwork would arise from such concepts as the self, the core, the essence, the source, and so on. Out of this conflicting period of adolescent self-consciousness and youthful omnipotence emerged my life theme of "Art Core".
First, through techniques of expression combining mathematical approaches, algorithms, and brainstorming, I created a prototype of my own expressive form to develop in my work while pursuing the "Art Core". Subsequently, I began producing the "Algorithm", "Deposition", and "Minimalism" series all around the same time.
This was the decisive moment I resolved to be an artist. Since childhood, I had loved to paint, paying little attention to anything else, but I also knew that life as an artist could not be a half-hearted commitment. At the age of 14, I felt I had to decide between committing myself to continued exploration of this theme, wherever it took me, or abandoning art altogether there and then.
Through making this commitment, and by strictly imposing this life choice on myself, I also felt, for the first time, a strong love for Art itself. Thus, I decided to live as an artist, and began to produce work for sale.
For college, I chose an art school in the US with strengths in the teaching of figurative expression. In Japanese art education, technique is taught, but little can be learned of classical realism or its spirit. Since I had been creating abstract art from the beginning, and knew I would continue to do so in the future, I decided to spend those few years of college to study the long history and spirit of Classical Realism from the ground up, thus forming another foundation for my own work. During college vacations back in Japan, I would hold solo exhibitions in rental galleries, and in 2020, I held my first solo exhibition in a contemporary gallery.
I would like to attempt an explanation of the basic concepts underpinning my creative approach.
The two principal characteristics of my approach are brainstorming, which involves diving into the individual themes and philosophies of each work and series as well as hypothesizing about the "Art Core" common to all my work, and algorithms, comprising the instructions and blueprints for fully expressing all these aspects in a single work. Combining these dual perspectives provides a basis for developing a unique algorithm, somewhat resembling a circuit diagram or spider’s web, with the process of layering paint as the final stage. To date, I have developed twelve sub-themes or hypotheses relating to the "Art Core", organized into twelve series of works, with numerous composites resulting in some 200 variations in all. These sub-themes, comprising the main axis of my work, are
"Deposition" (burning, crayon, music score), "Algorithm", "Minimalism" (composition), "Torus", "Zen" (Eastern philosophy, nothingness/annihilation of thought), "Apoptosis", "Dichotomy", "21", "12", "Monochrome" (white, black, a single color), "Isomorphism", and "Yin-Yang". These themes serve as both my hypotheses and my methods for finding the "Art Core".
The "Deposition" series involves the burning or beating of the work. After the algorithm is drawn on the canvas and layers of paint applied, oil is poured on the surface and the work set alight, revealing the hidden layers and thus the work’s hidden meaning. I settled on this handwrought approach since the "Deposition" series strongly emphasizes texture, and as the approach is highly compatible with other materials, I have frequently applied it in creating composite works with other series.
I consider abstract painting to be a more mathematical and logical method of expression, while figurative painting is more emotional. In this "Deposition" series, I have created paintings that may at first glance appear to be abstract, but in terms of expression are closer to figurative painting. Since the series involves an emotionally expressive technique and a deep exploration of the conceptual meaning of color itself, the algorithm for producing the works comprises merely the process of painting the work on canvas. Moreover, it is the only series in which each work has a title, conceived from the color in the image: red is molten rock, blue the shore reef, yellow is Huáng hé, the Yellow River, green the darkness beneath dense tree cover, purple nightfall, orange an evening shower, pink a flurry of cherry blossoms, white is nothingness or a rain shower, and black a reflection or illusion. The works in my other series are identified simply by serial numbers.
In combination with the "Deposition" series, I have also produced a "Music Score" series of works, expressing respect and repose for the composer, in which musical scores are burnt, as well as an "Impulse" series using crushed and melted crayon. Another series was created in combination with the "Algorithm" series.
The "Algorithm" series was in fact conceived before the "Deposition" series. Although I only began producing finished works in 2020 in readiness for my first solo exhibition at a contemporary gallery, I had been accumulating drawings for several years. In this colorful tonal series, an algorithm is drawn on the canvas with a marker, and paint is then layered on top of the algorithm. I created the "Minimalism" series and "Composition" series simultaneously during this production process. With these two series, the algorithm is itself the plan of the painting.
The "Minimalism" series originates in the simplicity of the composition. The algorithm comprises simply what has been brainstormed, the thoughts and philosophies underlying the work, while the composition instructions and algorithmic aspects remain as separate drawings rather than serving as the basis for an attendant composition. I consider this "Minimalism" series as representing the most potent hypothesis in expressing the art core. I regard the "Composition" series, meanwhile, as a composite, since it is bound up with the "Minimalism" series but is also an extension of the "Algorithm" series. Specific sub-themes I conceived from the very start are
"Zen" (Eastern philosophy, nothingness/annihilation of thought), "Apoptosis," "Dichotomy", "Yin-Yang", "21", and "12". I transform these ideas, philosophies, and research materials into algorithms, then add my own thoughts and interpretations in creating each work. I consider "Zen", including such concepts as wabi-sabi, ensÅ, and others, as encapsulating the fundamental thought of the Japanese people, and as a Japanese/Asian artist it is an essential theme I need to express.
Though the original concept of "Yin-yang" in Chinese thought is similar to that of a dichotomy, in reality it can be considered as something quite distinct. Whereas a dichotomy is the idea that everything in the world can be divided into two, such as light from darkness, yin-yang is neither as simple nor as absolute as this and can be thought of more along the lines of energy. On the theme of "Yin-yang", I draw an algorithm based on the theory of the five natural elements (fire, wood, earth, metal, water) and the I Ching. With "Dichotomy", I pursue ways of thinking based more closely on the Western philosophical idea of a complete division into two, and
attempt to express this not only in the image itself but also in the algorithm, including just why such division is at the core of art and how it can be expressed.
Although there are as yet no completed works on the themes of "Apoptosis", "21", or "12", I find these themes themselves to be very interesting, and frequently explore them when creating algorithms in the course of producing other work. Apoptosis is a scientific concept describing cellular suicide, or the pre-programmed death of cells, and is a process by which living organisms regulate and manage their bodies. As a theme, the idea originates from a strong desire on my part to create works that appeal to both the body and the mind, and thus ultimately to the soul of the viewer, animating at the molecular level to the point even of overcoming death. "21", meanwhile, refers to 21 grams, scientifically debunked as the weight of the soul, but a fascinating concept nonetheless. If we were to seek to describe the "Art Core" in terms of the parts of the human body, while the heart, brain, blood, or bones might all come into consideration, the closest analogy would surely be the soul. Though, like the soul, invisible to the naked eye, my urge to express this "Art Core" seems to be the strongest of all my impulses. The number "12" is seen in many aspects of life and belief, whether in the twelve-year cycle of the Japanese zodiac or the twelve constellations of the western zodiac, and of course in the measuring of time. I anticipate the expression of this fusion of East and West becoming a foundation of my work.
The themes "Torus" and "Isomorphism" originate in the fact that the shape of the universe, and that of the Earth’s magnetic field, have been described as torus-shaped. I am drawn to expressing the universe, and whatever is distant, vast, or otherwise inaccessible, in two dimensions. The torus, and the similar concept of homeomorphism or topological isomorphism, can be applied not only to a thematic exploration of the shape of the universe but also to that of the "Art Core". Moreover, the concept of topological isomorphism describes two spaces as being topologically equivalent, and so I have expressed the “Torus” theme primarily using circles and squares, which are homeomorphic to one another.
I believe these twelve sub-themes provide a route toward finding the "Art Core" and that among them, "Minimalism" offers the most promise. In short, "Minimalism" is a way for me to express what I want to convey in the simplest way, and being simple, it allows for the deepest form of expression. In seeking to express the "Art Core", I believe it is necessary to attempt both simple and esoteric expression, but of course this is a tremendously difficult task. Regardless, I will never give up my exploration and pursuit of the "Art Core" and my endeavor to express it in a single work of art.
In terms of artistic expression, more than evolving, I want to continue creating ever deeper work: taking all my feelings about art, and my hypotheses and fundamental themes about the "Art Core", combining them into unique approaches to expression that blend brainstorming and algorithms, and refining and honing them while aiming ultimately for the most minimalist approach. I will continue researching concepts and their origins, documenting this process of research with unique algorithms, and bringing them into being as fully developed works. This is the focus of my life; it excites and fulfills me. Drawn to the origins of things, I am obsessed with expressing the "Art Core".
