Kenji Ichikawa

Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

Artist statement

Pixel Montage "Pixel Montage" is a technique I devised in 1988, aimed at cutting and reconstructing printed materials and photographs to create new images. This technique pursues expression by alternating between micro and macro perspectives. The inspiration for this technique dates back to my childhood. From a young age, I loved collecting commemorative stamps, character cards, candy wrappers, river stones, leaves, pinecones, and arranging them to admire. One day, I was astonished to see the inside of a television my father was repairing. Inside the simple box covered with a cathode ray tube and plastic, there was a circuit board with small components neatly arranged. It reminded me of the townscape viewed from a mountain, and I was fascinated by the strangeness of the world inside the television, the size of myself, and the size of my home. This experience deepened my interest in arranging collected items to create new images. As an adult, I started photographing and collecting images of various subjects, from organic ones like lips, Japanese festivals, plants, and flowers, to inorganic ones like buildings. By observing each image, taking in information about color, shape, and texture, and trimming each one into squares to piece them together, I shape the overall image. The common theme is the "now," aiming to create works where the beauty of details captured from a micro perspective coexists with the harmony of the whole depicted from a macro perspective. I always...

Artwork