“So far, in the realm of two-dimensional artworks, elements such as prayer, communication, myth, religion, power, emotion, reality, light, movement, multiple perspectives, abstraction, (concepts), the unconscious, actions, flatness, societal phenomena, and amidst these trends, a wide variety of elements continue to be represented in the present moment.

 

Taking these trends into account, what I propose here and now is to depict the ‘fourth dimension’. I have named this expression ‘4D PAINTING’.

 

This method of 4D PAINTING involves cutting out flat material that absolutely does not allow any light or other elements to pass through it into a specific shape, and attaching it to a support. The specific shape, due to the effects of aging and degradation, delineates an expression that changes with the passage of time.

 

For example, have you ever experienced peeling off a poster that's been attached to a wall for a long period of time, and noticed that while the surrounding area has weathered, only the area beneath the poster has remained unweathered? I'm going to utilize that phenomenon.

 

The shapes that are cut out should symbolize the ‘present’, captured on a long time axis.

 

This method evolves over time. In other words, there is no concept of ‘completion’. The artwork is designed such that its expression only comes into existence after a substantial amount of time has passed.

 

Therefore, rather than capturing the temporary present of culture and the like, it is desirable to cut out shapes that exist in the present from a larger perspective, for example, shapes of human, bird, fish, insect, flower, etc. We take these current shapes for granted, but we don't know how they will have changed 10,000 years from now. This expression preserves the current shapes and conveys them to the future.

 

What would happen if 4D PAINTING were expressed around the world? Each location's natural environment has its unique characteristics. The changes in expression would vary depending on the unique air, light, humidity, etc., of the region. In other words, the natural environments of various parts of the world would become artists, giving birth to various expressions unique to each region.

 

And what I want to convey the most is that all existence takes a four-dimensional form. Humans misunderstand that all existence is three-dimensional. Therefore, they arbitrarily divide between the past, present, and future, creating the illusion of time and change. However, all existence is inherently four-dimensional form. [The past, present, and future] form a single continuum, and there are no breaks or divisions between them.

 

In 4D PAINTING, we depict a four-dimensional shape that visualizes the time axis, through the shapes of human, bird, fish, insect, flower, etc., that weather and degrade over time. In other words, it embodies the changing form of shapes (such as human, bird, fish, insect, flower) that exist in three-dimensional space through the fourth dimension, that is the passage of time. For example, in the case of a human shape, the weathering and deterioration over time symbolize a human life. That four-dimensional shape, where time and space are integrated, is our true form.

 

Through this ‘4D PAINTING’, I am trying to express the fact that all ‘shapes’ are four-dimensional. It might be difficult for people today to understand this concept. But that's okay. This expression is also a letter to the future. Even if they don't understand it now, in the distant future there will be people who understand and share this idea (philosophy).”