Yuji Kanamaru

STATEMENT

Yuji Kanamaru Profile 1978 Born in Kanagawa Prefecture 2002 Founded the artist group C-DEPOT and serves as its representative 2003 Completed the graduate course at Tokyo University of the Arts (Masataka Oyabu studio) Comment I have painted animals as a means of expressing myself. Rather than observing and describing them as they appear, I pass them through a filter of my own to draw out the forms particular to animals and to bring their inner life into view. Since ancient times animals have been rooted in human life — sometimes as family or friends, sometimes as objects of awe — and have filled the gaps in our hearts as vessels onto which feeling is projected. As presences that connect with the viewer's unconscious and carry dialogue and sympathy, neither too near nor too far, I want to express that invisible and gentle distance through my work.