Camouflage and repetition function as a filter, leaving my works in an unclear state that allows me to hide behind the subjects in the paintings. Recently, my interest has shifted towards the Meltdown our generation is facing, specifically in Japan.
Starting with the Nuclear meltdown in 2011, the nation is now facing a moment of meltdown within the people, and of our global mindset mirroring the Edo-period of isolation: the Sakoku policy. The act of camouflaging is a defense mechanism within my work and life. Identity has always been something that is not fixed, but relational to my environment. Being raised in a Japanese household and under an American educational system, I have become a hybrid of the two, awkwardly camouflaging into the contrasting cultures, as an inbetweener of both. It gives me the freedom of expression without the burden of social taboos and stigmas and acts as a mediator for my inner turbulence. Each of my works are composed with a single color in different tones, rough outlining and compressed into a flat composition implying the feeling of ambiguity that occurs within the meltdown as well as the state of transition within myself.