I painted "Shogun Wisteria," a 660-year-old wisteria blooming in the precincts of Ohnakaomi Shrine in Ogori City, Fukuoka Prefecture. I painted the color of the trunk based on the impression I received, not just on the color that I could visually see. To emphasize the power of the trunk, I kept the ground and the back of the tree simple. I also created the effect of feeling the vastness of the place by placing the powerful object in the center. Personally, this reminds me of the Golden Horde in the novel "1984" (written by George Orwell). The title of the work, "An Old Fashioned Gesture that Nullifies Entire Cultures and Systems of Thought," was inspired by that scene, showing an old-fashioned tree that has been alive for 660 years, blooming majestically without regard to culture or systems of thought. The dark blue in the back, the light brown of the ground, the yellow of the trunk, and the purple of the wisteria flowers form a cross between two complementary colors in the hue circle, expressing a sense of strength and openness. The work was exhibited at the exhibition "Minerva 2023" at the Mull Galleries in London and the Kyocera Museum of Art in Kyoto.
