Soichiro Kanai’s path as a contemporary artist began after his stint studying abroad to become a professional tennis player ended in injury.
For this exhibition, he will present a mixed media work on canvas that utilizes natural materials such as beeswax, soil, and jute bags. The artist also works beyond the frame by engineering various shadows on the walls and floor of the exhibition space. These shadows are not mere byproducts of light but shift in color and shape depending on the perspective of the viewer. We hope you will enjoy both the artwork of Soichiro Kanai and the environment that it creates.
Orbital
2025
h73.3×w105×d9 cm
Wax, pigment, soil, iron, copper
In Dialog with Time – The evening dew moves earth, softens walls, and permeates the human race
By creating a dialog between contrasting materials, this piece poses questions about time as a concept and the relationship between interior and exterior. Soil, beeswax, and copper tubing all age in different ways, and their combined use expresses the passage of time in visual terms.
While beeswax changes color gradually, year by year, copper wiring begins displaying the effects of rust within days to weeks. Both respond to oxygen, and in that sense, they engrave their relationship with the environment onto the artwork. Copper tubing functions not as a mere boundary but as a medium of connection between interior and exterior, impacting the balance of light and shadow over time. With the further help of a lighting apparatus that resembles the movements of the sun, the shape and density of the shadows cast on the piece will change. These dynamic changes in light then resonate with the aging of the materials to produce fundamental changes in the field of vision itself.
These combined effects reveal how time flows differently for organic (beeswax), inorganic (copper), and living (humanity) things, making viewers conscience of time’s multi-layered nature. While ordinary paintings maintain their “permanence” by minimizing the effects of time through preservation, this piece carries an inherent “variability” by changing with time’s passage. The phenomena of oxidation and changes in color indicate a continual record of how time and space interact. Furthermore, the visualized “layers” of time that are born from the contrasting lifespans of the different materials make time itself a malleable element and evoke the discrepancy with how time’s flow is felt by human beings.
21/03/2025(fri) - 03/04/2025(thu)
11:00-17:00※ Open by appointment only on Saturdays.
※ Closed on Sundays and holidays.
Please contact us from here for appointment and any further enquiries.