Megumi Niwa

I am interested in expressing the "space between figuration and abstraction" in my artwork. My interest in painting "between figuration and abstraction" was triggered by the "Willem de Kooning Exhibition" held at the Bridgestone Museum of Art in 2014. While working on his graduation project at art s...

I am interested in expressing the "space between figuration and abstraction" in my artwork. My interest in painting "between figuration and abstraction" was triggered by the "Willem de Kooning Exhibition" held at the Bridgestone Museum of Art in 2014. While working on his graduation project at art school, he began to wonder what kind of painting he really wanted to paint, and through a chance encounter with de Kooning's work, he felt he had found a direction for his painting. However, when he actually tried to abstract figurative expression, it was more difficult than he had imagined, and his paintings repeatedly collapsed. We can sense from de Kooning's works that figurative and abstract expressions are not necessarily opposed to each other, but when he tries to abstract the figurative, his paintings become chaotic and it is hard to tell what is what. It is as if a battle between figuration and abstraction is taking place on the screen. With the picture not quite finished, I decided to explore the reason why I was attracted to the "space between figuration and abstraction. Willem de Kooning is classified as an abstract expressionist painter in the history of art. Abstract Expressionism is characterized by expressing the spiritual through abstraction, but is what can be expressed through abstraction limited to emotions and the inner world? In order to explore what I want to express through "the space between figuration and abstraction," I first thoroughly drew the motif I felt I wanted to depict through figurative expression, and then tried an approach method of abstracting based on the completed figurative work. As a result, I realized that what I wanted to express through abstraction was not only the spiritual aspect, but also the overlapping and changing aspects of the image of the motif itself, which triggered the feeling of wanting to paint. The motif that I feel like painting, whether it is a flower or a landscape, almost never stays in the same state, but changes from moment to moment. What you see in your field of vision is always in flux, and it is difficult to capture it in a still image like a photograph. Images are invaded by other images and are constantly changing. I try to express the spiritual aspect through my motifs, as well as to capture and express the complexities of the overlapping and changing of various images. To this end, I will continue to produce works that leave traces of my struggle with the screen as I search for the "space between figuration and abstraction," using both figurative and abstract expressions to repeatedly collapse and regenerate.