Home Comforts Ⅲ

Home Comforts Ⅲ is the final work in the Home Comforts series, created in early 2021.

As nearly a year had passed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily life became increasingly restricted and our relationship with the outside world shifted dramatically. During this period, time spent reconsidering the objects and environments close at hand naturally increased. This series originates from such a renewed awareness of everyday life.

The motifs depicted in this work are a vacuum cleaner and bedding stored away in a closet. These are objects that rarely draw attention, brought out only when needed and returned to storage once their role is fulfilled. They are seldom assigned any special meaning, yet they continue to support daily life in a tangible way. This work focuses on such everyday scenes that include “unused time” within them.

While the production method is based on the Real Clothes series, in this work the ground material—gesso—is rubbed and exposed in the upper right area of the canvas. Oil paint is not used along the edges; instead, a material made by mixing the ground with colored chalk powder is applied, emphasizing the physical presence of the support itself. Building on previous attempts to invert the relationship between figure and ground, and between motif and background, this work consciously foregrounds the “foundation” of the painting.

Home Comforts Ⅲ does not depict a specific event. Rather, it is an attempt to quietly attend to and preserve the time and roles that accumulate unnoticed within everyday life.