Kohei Sekigawa won the Grand Prize in the 14th “1_WALL” Graphics Exhibition competition (2016) for his “figure” pencil drawings. He received high acclaim from the judging panel for the way he so realistically draws things that actually exist only in his imagination.

Using pencil, with meticulous detail Sekigawa draws imaginary toys, artworks, living creatures and the like. So realistic is the texture of his depictions, one can easily imagine what it would feel like to take them in hand. Sekigawa, whose modes of self-expression transcend drawings and also extend to the realm of performance, believes that when attempts are made to grasp something using words alone, the part that is inexpressible becomes elusive; and this is why he chooses to express himself through drawings as one method of transmission without relying on words. But he says that when he sets out to realistically create what he has chosen to create, he does so without a clear finished image in mind. The result is that the viewer is placed face to face with objects seemingly real that don’t in fact exist.

This exhibition will focus on works newly drawn by Sekigawa in the year or so since he captured the Grand Prize last spring.