Event period: 2022/9/17 (Sat) - 9/22 (Thu)
Location: Tor Gallery 1F
This year, I held a solo exhibition in Kobe.
Probably the 19th time.
A solo exhibition in a place I love takes a lot of energy and burns a lot of calories. I think pressure and stress are a sign of "expectations from myself." Setting high goals creates feelings of anxiety. I believe that moderate pressure is nourishment for growth.
This time, too, the works are displayed in book-shaped frames of various sizes. The works are like a scene from a story crystallized (in glass). From the moment you step into the exhibition, I want you to feel as if you are a character in the story, or even the one who wrote the story... in other words, a sense of immersion, an escape from reality.
In September 2022, people had returned to Kobe Motomachi/Sannomiya. That's why I was worried. For the past two years, I was able to blame the low number of visitors on COVID. Once people return, I won't be able to make such excuses and no one will compensate me. I wonder if people who I haven't seen in a long time have forgotten about me/my work over the past two years? Have they lost interest? I was worried about these things when I went to this Kobe solo exhibition. However, when it started, many people came, including regular customers and customers I hadn't seen in a long time. Was I able to create an exhibition that repays these feelings? I asked myself. I know there is no answer. But I believe that asking myself these questions will move me forward, even though they torment me. And I hope that this driving force/progress will be contained in my work. By the way, the theme of my solo exhibition from July to September 2022 was "propulsion force". The main work's title is " ADVANCE ~Advancement~".
What kind of solo exhibition will the one in Kobe in December 2023 be? I hope that next year we will be able to see many smiling faces, not just behind masks.