Kosuke Kawahara
Kosuke Kawahara is a Brooklyn based artist, who was born in Kyoto and raised in Shiga, Japan. His intuitive/improvisational gesture generates site-relevant imagery through its multi-layered structure.
Into an Ultrablack
My latest project entitled "Into an Ultrablack" began in 2013, in New York City. I was inspired by the word "UV (ultraviolet)" and coined the term "ultrablack," which indicates invisible presences that may exist within profound darkness. I observe ambiguities still present in binaries, such as nature/art, death/life, human/animal, male/female, organic/inorganic, reality/dream, and suchlike. The twilight surrounding these concepts inspire me to generate cryptic imageries.
Produced images in my studio practice are the fruits of the session with the site. Surroundings often supply visual elements in my work. For instance, the scenery of my commuter’s route, studio environment, and familiar landmarks of daily life. Moreover, I acknowledge the past events of those sites. The fusion of these elements and multi narratives sustains the central idea of my works. My current studio at Pratt Institute is located in the former Pfizer Building. I find malformed organisms in my work that hold a kin relationship with the site. Yet, malformation also can be seen in sea creatures, vegetables, and even human bodies after the nuclear disaster in Japan. While the origin of the visual element is uncertain for me, this nomadic way of idea generation enriches the diversity and complexity of the imagery.
I incorporate the landscape from my daily life and various dark narratives into my works, which refers to the sense of mystery and Buddhism/Animism. The communal function of the mountain in old Japan significantly inspires my project—the mountain is considered to be the place connecting this world to the underworld. According to the Japanese folklore called " (Ubasute—Yama)," an elderly person was carried to the mountain and left there to die. The intimate relationship between a corpse and a mountain can be seen not only in Japan but also worldwide. Serial killers in mystery films often bring dead bodies to a mountain or a forest in the dark.
Improvisation is vital to my artistic process. In my work, impromptu gestures accumulate to form deep textures, and compounded images. Multiple layers involuntarily overlap, leading to unforeseen outcomes. My art is painterly, but it also embraces the specificity of drawing and time-based sequencing. I explore meditative moments of instability and ways to confront fear through my artistic practice. This approach is rooted in the volatile nature of my experience in Japan—specifically the earthquake in 2011, which caused the infamous nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Such an unstable environment cultivated my understanding of coexistence with nature. This consequently allows me to accept impermanence, imperfection, and insufficiency in my process. Namely, I address the wild factors of material aging, deterioration, and discoloration in my work.
Produced images in my studio practice are the fruits of the session with the site. Surroundings often supply visual elements in my work. For instance, the scenery of my commuter’s route, studio environment, and familiar landmarks of daily life. Moreover, I acknowledge the past events of those sites. The fusion of these elements and multi narratives sustains the central idea of my works. My current studio at Pratt Institute is located in the former Pfizer Building. I find malformed organisms in my work that hold a kin relationship with the site. Yet, malformation also can be seen in sea creatures, vegetables, and even human bodies after the nuclear disaster in Japan. While the origin of the visual element is uncertain for me, this nomadic way of idea generation enriches the diversity and complexity of the imagery.
I incorporate the landscape from my daily life and various dark narratives into my works, which refers to the sense of mystery and Buddhism/Animism. The communal function of the mountain in old Japan significantly inspires my project—the mountain is considered to be the place connecting this world to the underworld. According to the Japanese folklore called " (Ubasute—Yama)," an elderly person was carried to the mountain and left there to die. The intimate relationship between a corpse and a mountain can be seen not only in Japan but also worldwide. Serial killers in mystery films often bring dead bodies to a mountain or a forest in the dark.
Improvisation is vital to my artistic process. In my work, impromptu gestures accumulate to form deep textures, and compounded images. Multiple layers involuntarily overlap, leading to unforeseen outcomes. My art is painterly, but it also embraces the specificity of drawing and time-based sequencing. I explore meditative moments of instability and ways to confront fear through my artistic practice. This approach is rooted in the volatile nature of my experience in Japan—specifically the earthquake in 2011, which caused the infamous nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Such an unstable environment cultivated my understanding of coexistence with nature. This consequently allows me to accept impermanence, imperfection, and insufficiency in my process. Namely, I address the wild factors of material aging, deterioration, and discoloration in my work.