Glitter

One of the central concepts of my recent work is “coexistence through contrast.” This means portraying the fleeting moment when incompatible elements encounter one another as a beautiful state within painting. I consider this concept to be a fundamental challenge for painters living in the contemporary world.

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 Chaos and disorder are often used to describe our present-day reality, yet from another perspective they represent a condition filled with diversity and infinite potential. Conflicts between differing elements occur constantly in life. Rather than seeing them as friction or disharmony, I want to treat them as the most interactive and active moments—moments in which each element can shine. An unexpected encounter with something unfamiliar can also be understood as an encounter with oneself in transformation, facing a new world.

 

 Each person lives within frameworks that determine their values and actions, though we may not be consciously aware of them in everyday life. I believe that when individuals become aware of the values that are truly necessary to them, and are able to free themselves from invisible, often unconscious internal biases, existing value systems, and various forms of constraint, society itself can begin to move.

 

 My paintings are works that are “not meant to be understood.” Painting is not something to be explained; everything begins with experience and sensation. I hope that standing before a painting becomes a place where viewers can discover their own creativity and generate new possibilities. The ability to make diverse choices is itself creative and generous. To recognize one’s own creativity is also to be able to remain open and generous toward others. I hope that encountering my work becomes an opportunity to reconsider what it means to be free.

 

 Abstraction is one of the key words in my practice. Accepting abstract concepts is closely connected to maintaining objectivity. When attempting to face oneself as a subject and to engage with others as they are, it becomes necessary to take a broader perspective—to accept and sublimate external accidents that exist outside the self. I believe that when one approaches abstraction more deeply, human sensuality becomes its driving force.

 

 The title of this exhibition, GLITTER, carries meanings such as “to shine brightly,” “to sparkle,” “to glitter,” “to be dazzling,” and “to catch the eye.” Multiple layers of diverse strokes and lines move back and forth between abstraction and figuration, while complex color mixtures and hues that shift with light overlap with the lustrous quality of oil paint, working directly upon the viewer’s sensual perception. Through the glittering quality of the works, I imagine that viewers standing before the paintings may themselves begin to take on glitter-like aspects or changes, becoming part of what the work composes.

 

 Recently, I have come to firmly believe that painting can transform society. Painting, to me, is something filled with ideas that allow us to view the world in the freest possible way. I sincerely hope that this exhibition will become a place for open dialogue through art.

 

September 24, 2018
Naoko Watanabe (Painter / Visual Artist)

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