I wonder where I got the image for A Vase of Candle #01

that suddenly arose in my mind.

From ancient times, flowers have been tokens for celebrating

the joys of living and offered as tributes to the dead. Candles

have been used from olden days for light to illuminate the

darkness. I use them in everyday life when I pay my respects

to my ancestors and other departed.

I have the feeling that I imagined A Vase of Candle #01 and

was able to express it inthe form of a painting because of its

connotations involved with love, body, and perspective on

life and death. The paintings make visible indescribable

existences resulting from the reconstruction of everyday

utensils, food, creatures, and other things, some of value to

me and some without value, with lines in Indian ink layered

like tree trunk rings.

Deformable Candle Vase, the title of this exhibition, is indicative

of my search for further ideas and transformation,in order to

contemplate the mystery of life and nature’s providence

within blank space free of dichotomies (free/unfree, aware/

unaware, valuable/valueless, etc.) as regards specific things

and articles that I actually encounter in my everyday life.

 

Kouta Aoki

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Born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1985, Kouta Aoki graduated from the Kyoto University of Art andDesign (the current Kyoto University of the Arts) with a bachelor’sdegree in Nihonga(Japanese-style painting) from the Department of Fine and Applied Arts in 2007, and from theTokyo University of the Arts with a master’s degree in mural painting in 2010. He remains engaged in activities of artistic

production based in Ibaraki. Right from his university days, he has applied various painting techniques as evidenced by his Nihonga, frescoes, and temperapaintings.

While drawing on the knowledge and skills he has acquired in the process, he has been making mainly paintings using Indian ink on paper or stucco in recent years.

The Deformable Candle Vase series that is going to be shown for the first time at this exhibition originated in Aoki’s experience of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck in the middle of one of his classes at the preparatory

school for art universities he runs. He said he has vivid memories of the light of a single candle he was given at the nearby shelter where he evacuated with his students, in spite of the confused situation. Opportunities to finally hear the voices

of people affected by the disaster seem to have increased now that over 10 years have passed since its occurrence. Perhaps they needed this much time to absorb and speak. We often hear about cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

among people who are afflicted with trauma after experiencing natural disasters, disasters of human causes, crimes, war, etc. At the same time, apart from stress reactions, it is known that confronting and dealing with the extreme pain and anguish

caused by traumas can induce growth as a human being in good directions.

This psychological change is termed “post-traumatic growth” (PTG). In Aoki’s repeated depiction of the flames of “candles,” one cannot help but sense the nature and role of art per se, which can accept the negative as negative or convert it into positive energy.

Don’t miss Deformable Candle Vase, this long-awaited solo exhibition of works by Kouta Aoki.

Please also note that we are going to hold a talk event titled “Different Views of 3/11” togetherwith Bontaro Dokuyama as a guest on February 4 (Sun.), 2024. We are looking forward to seeing you and your friends at this event as well.