Born in Japan, I left home at the age of eight, spent two years in Hong Kong and thirteen years in international boarding schools in Switzerland. Through my work, I attempt to create a narrative where things exist as they are, transcending borders. “Border” exists everywhere: home country and other countries, past and future, religion and culture. I try to investigate its roots to constructively execute the artistic application. This approach allows me to explore a new form of surrealism; I take abstract concepts such as time and emotion and turn them into tangible visuals by offering attributes such as texture and color in physical space. 

The belief that tradition transcends borders and is one enduring means of connecting the past and future is an important foundation in my creative process. For this reason, I practice ‘nihonga’, a Japanese traditional painting style, because it was developed as a way of preservation. One of its signature mediums is natural and synthetic mineral pigment. The sand-like coarse particles themselves have no adhesive properties, so I add natural animal collagen as a glue solution and knead it with my fingers to produce every color. In Japan, it is believed that gods dwell in all things. I love the idea of connecting with this belief through the creation of Japanese paintings. I express the coexisting relationship of diversity that I wish to express by using objects inhabited by deities, while exploring the preservation of the here and the now.