To reinforce viewers' objectivity toward their own identity, through painting I have been trying to replicate the situation in which I objectively look at myself and question my own identity. I use blue as a filter to look at the artwork itself through. Blue is a unique color that not only represents negative feelings, such as sadness or depression, but also is soothing and creates a relaxing atmosphere. Impressions that viewers get from the color depends on their mental state and how they relate their memories to what is depicted in artwork. Blue also separates artwork from the situations that the artwork is based on, diminishing the specificity of what is depicted. Therefore, blue enhances viewers' objectivity toward a painting itself as well as toward what they perceive. Interpretation of artwork depends on how they read it through a blue filter. Viewers may think about what they have felt and its reason through personally communicating with their own memories.


Train station series:
      I have been intrigued by public places where a sense of isolation and freedom coexist, especially the train stations in Tokyo which are filled with people just passing through. Everyone loses their identity and becomes one of a crowd there. In such a situation, it feels as if I am objectively looking at myself as I look at others. It is depressing to be just another face in a crowd but it is somehow relaxing as I am liberated from the stress of communicating with people. Being a part of a crowd means losing identity and being a negative space to others. Moreover, a negative space is somewhere anyone could belong to. Through depicting people as a negative space, I put emphasis on the loss of identity in a crowd so as to reinforce viewers' questioning toward themselves: "Who am I?" or "Where do I belong to?"


Umbrella series:
      This series is about a lonely girl's search for a place to be. I have been trying to replicate something anyone may have experienced: search of identity, loneliness in a group, objectivity toward the situation. The original work was made in 2004 when I was a college student. It is a series of eight blue paintings which first shows a girl in the dark with her umbrella that is the only thing she has. She once throws the umbrella away but comes back to it. The blue background gradually gets lighter to indicate that she finds a new dimension of the umbrella as she takes a distance from it. In the end of the series another person appears and picks up the umbrella for her. I decided to develop this series focusing on the girl's search for a place to be.