Tetsuji Yamashita

Universal rhythm. The color that is there now. (Artist statement)
“It will take about two more hours for those black clouds to get here.” In Africa, Tetsuji was at the eaves to get out oftorrential rain, and he had a small conversation with an elderly man under the same eaves. At that moment he mad...

Universal rhythm. The color that is there now. (Artist statement)
“It will take about two more hours for those black clouds to get here.” In Africa, Tetsuji was at the eaves to get out oftorrential rain, and he had a small conversation with an elderly man under the same eaves. At that moment he made up his mind to become an artist to expressAfrica, an absolute foreign country, using colored cutout papers. The sun rises and goes down every single day. It is a rhythm that has not changed sinceancient times. The fundamental questions for all living creatures could be reasoned by using the five senses and sixth intuition, which are calledinstinct. There is no calculation or reason. Like people have a different understating toward one piece of poetry, all the creatures feel and understandthe act of living itself differently. Here is the concept of his artwork which is “his artwork needs to be completed with a picture and apoem”.
What Tetsuji is trying to express in his artwork is “ to live”.In the summer of 1990, he flew to Africa saying just this one word“I want to see the lion.” He wanted to see their lively eyes, not the tired eyes in the zoo. He learned the language, walked alone,and traveled with all his senses. The fact that during the stay he found “the color that is there now” and “he hadlived in Africa” led him to use the colored paper to express the life of Africa. Of course, it is not only Africa that has life. Life iseverywhere and plays the rhythm. Africa is just the starting point for Tetsuji.
“To live” is sometimes strong and sometimes fragile. Someday the youth is gone. However, another beauty is born there. Thesame is true for paper. Letters and pictures written on the papers that were made hundreds of years ago are attractive because the time has given them depthand they have been able to remind you of the past. However the color of works changes over time, it means that it gets older with viewers. Being old meanscreating a story. Tetsuji compares a story to a journey and both a creator and viewers share the thoughts hidden in poetry. That is the concept of his artworkand his expression of “to live”.
普遍のリズム。今、そこにある色。（アーティスト ステートメント）
「あの黒い雲がここに来るまで2時間くらいある。」。アフリカ。突然のスコールに雨宿りしていた時の事。同じ軒下で老人と交わしたわずかな会話が、色紙という素材を使い、異国であるアフリカを表現する意味を決定づけた。陽は上り、また沈む。太古から変わらぬリズム。「生きる」というすべての生き物にとって根幹となる問いは、本能ともいえる五感と第六勘の中に息づいている。そこにあるのは計算や理屈ではない。感じ、捉える部分もそれぞれに違う一編の詩のようなものである。「絵と詩があって一つの作品」という私のコンセプトはここにある。 私が表現を試みているのは「生きる」である。1990年、夏。「ライオンが見たい。」たったその一言だけで私はアフリカへ飛んだ。動物園の疲れた目のライオンではなく、生きている目を見たかった。言葉を習い、一人で歩き、五感のすべてを使って旅を重ねた。その中で得た「今、そこにある色」と「アフリカで生きた」という事実が色紙という素材を使い、アフリカという生命を表現する根幹となっている。もちろん生命があるのはアフリカだけではない。いたるところに生命は宿り、そのリズムを奏でている。アフリカは私にとって原点でしかない。 「生きる」とは時に強く、時に儚い。若さもいつか老いを迎える。だが、そこに別の美が生まれる。紙も同じだ。幾百年もの時を経た紙に書かれた文字や絵には、時間だけが与える深みと当時を偲ばせるという輝きが加わる。作品が持つ色は、時を経るごとに変化する。それは見る者とともに歳を経るということ。歳を経るとは物語を生むということ。その物語を旅にたとえ、詩の奥に秘められた想いを作り手と鑑賞者の両者が分かち合うこと。それが私の作品コンセプトであり、「生きる」という表現なのである。