Life and Death – The Quiet Talking with the Existence

Tomohiro Higashikage
(Nomart Gallery, Osaka)

The theme of my works is “life and death”, “the quiet talking with the existence”. My works don’t have physical existence like “Tsukumo Gami (spiritual small gods)” which come down from old Japan. In a long time one stores up many things which stand still and rust away. I surely want to express the heart and soul inside of my work, but its physical appearance is animal’s head and fur. The head and fur are a kind of border of life and death, existence of a different nature. Those are important themes of my works. I wish that my works influence the subconsciousness of a person who stands in front of them and make the audience feel the existence of a different nature.

I don't use casting, because I don't like it. I want to use my hands directly until the end of my creative process. First, after making up the base, I stick the epoxy putty spread like the skin onto it. While the epoxy putty gets hardened, I scratch it and express the detail of the animal’s hair one by one. After hardening, I stick the next skin and scratch it and so on. It’s like a patchwork. Finally I paint it with acrylic paint. The act of covering with resin fur itself is very important to me.