Hidetaka Suzuki
Hidetaka Suzuki was born in 1986 in Hokkaido Japan, and currently lives and works in Tokyo. He graduated fromthe Musashino Art University. He is a painter but also a front-end engineer. His work won the Golden Acrylics Award at GEISAI#13, which was held by Takashi Murakami. He participates in group exhibitions at NANZUKA and exhibitions sponsored by startbahn. It is important for me to paint images that are outside of myself. In order to take in the unexpected and look at the subject from a new perspective. In my paintings, there is a definite object in view. However, I try to obscure the parts that can be defined by words, such as names, situations, and meanings. By doing so, I find an image that I have never seen before in an image that I have seen before. I want to give form to these images in the form of paintings. It is a desire to own images that I find interesting, and to
Hidetaka SuzukiInterview
1. Hi Hidetaka, can you tell us about your background. How and when did you first start to paint?
I first started drawing by copying cartoons that I liked. Another big inspiration was seeing Claude Monet's paintings. I was born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan, a place rich in nature. It is a wonderful place to visit, especially for the sky view. As a high school student, I often took pictures of sunsets with my cell phone camera, but I always felt that there was something that could not be captured in a photograph. I remember thinking that Monet's paintings depict that which cannot be captured. From there, I began to think about the relationship between photography (images) and painting.
2. What is your main source of inspiration?
It is the small discomfort of everyday life. It makes us realize what we have become so embedded in that we can no longer see.
3. What is your process like? How do you begin to work?
I’m always stocking up on images from the internet and painting them. I like images that look uncomfortable, or that seem to be missing. However, these images are just an excuse to paint, and once I start painting, I don’t need to justify what is in the picture. If you can’t make the leap, it’s not a painting. For example, day and night are actually moving in different spaces.
4. What does your artwork represent?
Through my paintings, I attempt to prolong the life of images being consumed. In the mass flow of images, some are worth stopping and thinking about what they are. I want to be able to remember there was human activity, even if those images eventually all disappear.
5. How has the city you are living and working in influenced you and the art you make?
I am currently living in Tokyo, and I think it is a very unique city in the world. There are several cities that seem to be intertwined like a rhizome with no boundaries. In some places, the city has not changed since the end of World War II, and in other places, it is the most advanced city. The city with its two extremes makes me look at the in-between. I can't help but think that this is the inherent desire and absurdity of human beings.
