Light & Shadow Art Exhibition
"Light and Shadow is about the human psyche— the conscious (light) and subconscious (shadow). For years I’ve been interested in psychology, and a point in my art arrived at its exploration. Specifically, this was in the summer of 2015 where I won’t share the story here because it’s too long.
The artworks presented in this exhibition largely consist of the shadow side. Created through a process I discovered through trial and error, each resulting image is revealed along the way. What I mean is, I begin each piece not knowing what might appear, if anything. Every individual is complex, and there are deeper aspects within that are often taboo to express.
Paraphrasing Carl Jung, anything the individual can not bear consciously, he/she buries into the subconscious. It’s for good reason this side of the psyche is called the shadow side. Repressed thoughts, feelings, fantasies, and desires. And these artworks I feel confident as manifestations from that source, seem consistently dark. It may be a strange thing to say, but I don’t necessarily like many, most of them. It’s not the type of imagery I want to wake up to.
However, I value every piece. And thus in response to these works, I found myself aiming for something brighter. Artworks that are pleasant, yet always sincere. At the time flowers were a subject of interest outside of art and conveniently extended into being the subject of painting. The process itself is opposite to the shadow works, where there is a level of conscious control at least with knowing what I am painting before I’ve even started.
Thus I attribute the source from which these works are created to the conscious mind, though both bodies of artwork to some degree require the total psyche to be made. Enjoy"
- Akira
