Haruki Ogawa

The relationship between emptiness and reality," - a new connection between the spatiality (illusion) and materiality of painting.

A common theme in my work is the relationship between emptiness and reality, as they move back and forth between each other. Emptiness" refers to "the image on the...

The relationship between emptiness and reality," - a new connection between the spatiality (illusion) and materiality of painting.

A common theme in my work is the relationship between emptiness and reality, as they move back and forth between each other. Emptiness" refers to "the image on the screen and spatiality (depth) = illusion," while "reality" refers to "materials such as support and paint, as well as actual space. The more realistically you paint the image and spatiality on the screen, which is the "imaginary," the closer you get to the "real. Inversely, the more real the support and paint, which are the "real" things, become, the closer they become to the "imaginary" things, a structure common to all paintings.
In the case of my work, I move back and forth between these boundaries. For example, my theme is related to the Taiji diagram related to my research on the origin of landscape painting when I was a student, and to Eastern thought such as Laozhuang philosophy and the Tao.
To use a familiar analogy, let's say you cut a fruit or vegetable in half with a knife. This "half" can be defined as anything, but it is naturally divided into two halves. However, they are not actually "true halves. This is because there are fibers, etc. adhering to the knife. Thus, there is something that is lost by dividing the two halves. It is an event that we do not usually recognize. By dividing things, we can analyze and systematize them. On the other hand, "the part that is originally present, which cannot be said either way," is lost.

However, I am not denying the act of dividing itself. For example, in modernism, we can paradoxically understand the value of what was lost because we were able to analyze, rationalize, and systematize by dividing. The Chinese character for "divide" can also mean "understand. This is also very paradoxical, but it is only possible because we have each other. It is because I have divided and analyzed various things that I am able to look at the "lost relationship" today, and express and present that relationship itself.