Artist Statement by Uni Aoi

UniAoi's production keywords are "sex," "religion," "tactile hallucinations," and "improvisation.

As a second-generation member of the Unification Church, she received a strict education in sexuality. This repression and reactionary interest in sexuality led her to create sexual paintings.

When she broke away from her guru during her adolescence, she needed a new faith. That is "painting.

She is naturally prone to phantom touch, auditory hallucinations, and visions, and she does not believe in the five senses. She is uncomfortable with the idea of painting "as she sees it.

In order to faithfully reproduce the world she feels, it would be better to adopt an expressionist approach.

She feels a deep connection with her work by directly touching her fingertips to the paint. It could be said that she is performing a ritual of interweaving tactile hallucinations. She feels the need to touch and confirm.

She dares not to take an esquisse or a draft when she paints. Even if something different from her imagination comes out in the process of painting, she values the process and the result, and enjoys the fun and improvisation of not knowing what will come out.

Unevenness and blotting of paint. The blending of colors. Naturally occurring matiere and texture. The dynamism of brushwork. The amount of information in the color gradation. The complexity of touch. She finds beauty in these traces of manual work and expresses eroticism.

私の制作キーワードは「性」「信仰」「幻触」「即興」だ。

統一教会二世として、性に厳格な教育を受けた。その性に対する抑圧と反動での興味が私にセクシャルな絵を描かせるのだ。

思春期に教祖から決別し、新たな信仰が必要となった。それが「絵画」である。

生来、幻触や幻聴、幻視の特性を持つ私には五感というものが信じられない。「見たままに描く」ということへの違和感がある。

私の感じている世界を忠実に再現するには表現主義的な手法を取り入れるのがよいと考えた。

指先を直接絵具に触れることで、作品との深い繋がりを感じる。幻触を織り交ぜる儀式を行っているとも言える。触れて確かめたいという気持ちがあるからだ。

エスキースや下書きをあえて取らない。描いていくうちに想像とは異なるものができても、その過程と結果を大切にし、何ができるかわからない面白さや即興性を楽しむようにしている。　

絵の具の塗りムラや滲み。色の混ざり合い。自然に生まれるマチエールやテクスチャ。筆捌きのダイナミズム。色調のグラデーションの情報量。タッチの複雑性。それら手作業の痕跡に美を見出し、エロスを表現している。