“MA ” opened at AKI Gallery on September 6, with the artists present at the opening to engage directly with viewers and share the concepts behind their works. Misato KURIMUNE, Nobuyuki OSAKI, and Tomoshi YASUDA use the human figure as inspiration, yet each explores different visual ways, challenging perceptual boundaries and leaving traces of memory that extend beyond immediate perception.
Tomoshi YASUDA
In his work, viewing unfolds as a continuous act of deconstruction and reconstruction. From a distance, the work presents an overall composition; as one approach, the textures of pigment and the tactility of color emerge. Meaning is no longer fixed within the image but shifts according to the viewer’s position, opening up new interpretations. By breaking pixel-based imagery into elemental units, YASUDA uses blocks of color to simulate the granular texture of the digital. His works invite viewers to search for their own focus, reconfiguring the very notion of what constitutes “clarity.”
Misato KURIMUNE
When viewers encounter the figures within the work, a sense of “unfamiliar familiarity” awakens latent memories. The use of lenticular prints heightens visual instability, as the gaze oscillates between presence and disappearance. This gesture further points to the emergence of digital images and virtual identities. In an age oversaturated with information and images, what is seen is not always real; the very act of looking itself becomes a question—an inquiry into the contemporary condition.
Nobuyuki OSAKI
These works begin with drawing, which is then immersed into solvent, allowing the pigments to dissolve and disperse. Through video, photography, and print, the process itself becomes the work. In the video series “Portraits (Buenos Aires | Portraits of Japanese Immigrants)”, the gradual dissolution of the human figure not only provokes questions of self-identity but also enters into dialogue with the long tradition of portraiture in art history. OSAKI uses disappearance to reveal the instability of the self within the currents of contemporary time.
