Kosuke Yamawaki

To see is to be seen, and to be seen is the only way to see. ”
The existence of animals is the most familiar metaphor that humans have used since ancient times.
People often compare themselves to animals. Starting with the wall paintings in Lascaux Cave, animals are used for characters and figurative expression in everyday conversation. For instance, we say "That guy looks like a monkey.”
I think that by using animals to represent people, we can express a wider range of humanity.

At the same time, I do not create paintings as objects to be viewed, but rather as "paintings that gaze at viewers," both substantively and psychologically.
By the act of appreciation (gazing) by the viewer, the viewer is "gazed at" by the painting. At that moment, there is a mental repetitive movement occuring between the viewer and the painting.

That is how the existence of the painting becomes something that everyone can share. At the same time, it becomes an anonymous and universal existence that reflects the individuality of the viewer — “a mirror to know himself”.
We can be gazed at by seeing, and we only can see by being gazed at.

I think that “what I see in the mirror” is what I really want to know and what I am searching for.