There are objects that are discarded, overlooked, or easily passed by, yet still possess distinct qualities and a presence of their own. My work begins with noticing such things and looking at them closely over time. I observe their material and formal characteristics, and consider how what I discover in them might expand into new structures and meanings within the work.

What matters to me is not erasing these qualities or transforming the object into something else. Cracking, deformation, irregularity, and instability—qualities that might otherwise be regarded as flaws—can also form part of an object’s identity. Rather than removing them, I add, stack, or arrange elements in ways that allow those qualities to remain visible within a structure.

Kiwa began with end grain, a part of timber that is often discarded or concealed. By stacking and arranging pieces of end grain like roof tiles, I came to understand imperfection not simply as a defect to be corrected, but as an inherent quality of the material and part of its identity. I began to think that a complete form might not be one without flaws, but a structure capable of remaining intact while containing imperfection.

Baram began with studies from the period when I first started painting. I discovered the form of wind in the studies scattered irregularly across the floor, and brought these fragments—once associated with my anxiety and sense of imperfection in painting—into a structure within the canvas. Since then, Baram has developed into a body of work that translates the invisible and unstable nature of wind into forms and colors, tempering the hardships and turbulence encountered in life while carrying a wish that the winds yet to come will be bokpung (福風, winds of good fortune).

The materials, forms, and meanings of each body of work differ, but they begin from the same attitude: attending to qualities that already exist within the subject. Rather than erasing them, I observe and accept them, searching for ways in which they can remain present while taking on new structures and meanings.