Day: March 4, 2026

Statement

Here is the translation with the em dashes removed and the sentences restructured for a smooth, professional flow.

Artist Statement

When looking at modern society, it is overflowing with phenomena that cannot be explained by logic and problems that cannot be easily resolved. Yet, I have realized that the pursuit of these solutions can, before we know it, flip into something exclusive and give rise to new divisions.

At the root of why I continue the act of creation is perhaps the feeling that it is a place allowing me to remain within those “intervals” (awai). It is a space permitted for facing questions that have no answers.

There are moments when I catch my breath at the accidental complexity created by thinning paint and letting it yield to bleeding and gravity, or at the beauty of colors born from clashing and stretching thick layers of pigment. This sensation is very similar to the feeling one holds for the beauty of nature. However, at the same time, a sense of unease toward a canvas composed entirely of chance led me to a process of masking that surface with opaque colors.

I believe this is an analogy for the contradiction of how humans feel awe toward the beauty of nature while simultaneously finding beauty in its opposing rationality.

Through this evolution in my practice, I arrived at a method where I incorporate chance within the frame while intervening with a PC and projector to fragment my own arbitrariness to a certain extent. By introducing elements other than my own handiwork, I attempt to flip chance into necessity while simultaneously capturing the afterimage of that “interval.” In doing so, I felt a slight sensation of being able to project the contemporary world in which I live onto the work.

Then, turning back to the question of why I desire such a reconciliation of opposites, I realized that the act of creation, which is an extremely personal and in a sense exclusive endeavor, had flipped into a bird’s-eye perspective for observing society.

For me, creation is an attitude of continuing to face social issues and my own internal emotions and conflicts. It is a state of neither affirming nor denying them, yet never becoming indifferent.

SNS

Eri Fukami explores and practices painting by questioning what is possible for her as a contemporary artist, considering not only the lineage of art history but also her own era, society, and culture.

Her works often feature figures with simple expressions and a “heta-uma” (bad-but-good) aesthetic. The artist explains that these pieces largely depict her personal world: everyday occurrences, relationships with family and others, romance, and her own dreams.

Fukami’s approach, capturing the doubts and realizations of daily life, as well as the ambiguous, subtle inner movements we face as we live, while weaving in elements of fantasy, may remind viewers of Expressionist painters like Kirchner or Munch.

However, rather than positioning herself as a narrator of art history, she adopts the perspective of an ordinary person, much like Hellenistic literature that sang of love and the laws of nature. Her motto is to present the reality found within that daily existence through painting. It is precisely for this reason that Fukami’s work resonates with contemporary sensibilities, possessing the power to make us observe our own daily lives anew.