Yoshihiro Kita
Japan
I like antique artworks, not limited to nihonga. I find myself admiring works which I am not sure who has made them.
The appearance of patina, scratches and flaked off surface, which have been made over time, make me feel satisfied.
It is exactly the same feeling that I enjoy nature. This is my creative urge currently.
If we find antique nihonga, in most of the cases, they are housed at shrines and temples. The auspicious images
depicted in them appear in many of my artworks too. Colors which I use, such as vermilion and gold,
show how I am attached to antiques. These colors match with the tropical environment of Okinawa
where my creative activities take place. And they also represent the view of nature that has been passed down
in East Asia. If I were to describe my artwork of ancient divine who are dancing, and of brilliant coloring,
I would call it “a festival.”
Yoshihiro Kita was born in Tokushima in 1978. He received his PhD from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2006, he is now an associate professor at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts.