About Me

I work primarily with charcoal, using the forms of people and animals to explore emotions and traces of existence that emerge before they can be put into words.

In each work, I try to look deeply into the life of each person and animal—the emotions, vulnerability, ambiguity, and subtle presence that cannot be fully captured through language.

Rather than aiming to precisely reproduce a predetermined form, I allow the work to develop through the accidents that arise as I rub, erase, and layer charcoal. By allowing clear gazes and expressions to coexist with areas where forms dissolve, edges break apart, and figures fade into blackness and empty space, I seek to capture the uncertainty and presence inherent in living beings.

We live in a time when we can access countless answers almost instantly, while being constantly expected to make judgments and reach conclusions within a limited amount of time.

Yet human emotions and existence are not things that can truly be resolved so easily. Rather than deciding what something means at once, I believe there is value in spending time simply looking at something and allowing ourselves to remain with it. There may be emotions that can only be encountered through that process.

The black of charcoal, its absence of color, the empty space, and the imperfections of the medium draw our attention toward what has not been depicted as much as what has. I feel that charcoal quietly brings forth the ability to truly observe that we all possess.

Through my work, I hope to leave room for viewers to stay with the image through their own senses—to encounter subtle traces that might otherwise go unnoticed, and something that has not yet found its way into words.