Yuji Susaki

The housing complex where I spent my childhood in the 1960s and early 70s was a microcosm of Japan’s period of rapid economic growth. Hundreds of families lived in geometric apartment blocks that towered on the hills, filled with couples working full of hope and many energetic children. Every single one of them was experiencing Japan’s economic growth firsthand. Growing up there, from the time I was old enough to understand my surroundings, I became a child acutely sensitive to the difference between "light and shadow"—the flowers and deciduous trees blooming on the south side of the complex versus the moss and ferns filling the north side—and that visual sharpness only increased as the years went by. Furthermore, in contrast to the rapid economic growth, I spent my boyhood influenced by fantastical works that seemed to reflect the inner conflicts of the people of that time. The imagination and delusion-filled ideas cultivated back then remain the foundation of my work today as "infantilism." What I prioritize most when creating is my own "conscience and true heart."

The "conscience" mentioned here is judgment born of reason, while "true heart" is the untethered desire of the creator. Of course, there are times when I prioritize my judgment as a creator out of conscience, and times when I approach ideas rationally from my true heart. Reflecting the conflict created in that gap simultaneously in my work carries risks and creates a kind of instability. However, I feel that yin and yang, front and back, while seemingly contradictory, are in fact two parts of one single world.

The process of honing the sense of "conscience" and "true heart" asserting themselves within my work—that creation on the very edge, walking the abyss of art—is exactly what I am pursuing. I believe I am drawn to what lies between such "light" and "shadow."

By capturing the "front" and "back" of humanity, I create works that delve deeper into the question of "what it means to be human," recreating the world of "two sides of the same coin" that I smelled in my childhood through the hidden cultures and customs of Japan.