Untitled

Technique and Process

Kiyoshi Nakagami's artwork is created using a unique technique that eliminates the visible brushstrokes found in conventional painting. By allowing materials such as acrylic paint and gold pigment to flow across the canvas, and leaving the results to gravity, the surface tension of the paint, and the natural drying process, textures that transcend intentional human design emerge.

The golden light rising from the profound darkness, along with the microscopic ripples and accumulations of pigment, appear to capture the very laws of nature. The artwork presents a mystical visual experience in which light itself becomes materialized, while simultaneously, matter is sublimated into a spiritual radiance.

A Miniature Universe and Universal Light

Although this artwork is created on a very small canvas (Thumbhole/SM size), it contains an unfathomable and profound universe within. What the artist intended to express is the overwhelming energy of the natural world and the beauty of universal light, where the macro and micro scales exist as two sides of the same coin.

By thoroughly eliminating intentional brushstrokes and mediating the materiality of paint and the dynamism of nature, Nakagami’s world emerges to envelop the viewer in an absolute stillness. Precisely because of the small format, the piece aims to create an intimate, spiritual space that allows for a deep, one-on-one dialogue between the viewer and the artwork.

A Flow Process Eliminating the Artist's Intentionality

Paintbrushes are rarely used as a tool for expression. The canvas is placed horizontally, and materials such as acrylic paint and gold pigment are allowed to flow across it. The composition is formed by surrendering the outcome to gravity, the surface tension of the paint, and the natural drying process.

Under precise temperature and humidity control, microscopic textures such as "paint shrinkage" and "unique accumulation" caused by the contraction and sedimentation of the paint itself are created. By thoroughly eliminating intentional strokes, the primary method of production relies on the inherent laws and dynamism of the materials.

Time interwoven by natural flow and dryness

The production of this work is completed after a long process until the material flow of the paint completely stops and dries naturally under a precisely controlled temperature and humidity environment.

Since everything is left to gravity, surface tension, and shrinkage and precipitation of the paint itself without using a brush, quiet time is accumulated where the painter watches over the transition until the screen is finished. The beauty of a moment's flow and the rich passage of time for it to become established as matter are condensed into this small screen.

Otaki-machi, Chiba

landscape abstract painting