TO INDULGE IN…

NOT EVEN AS COLOR OR SHADE,

JUST PAINT, MATERIAL ITSELF.

IT'S A PHYSICAL, SENSUAL BEING.

Katsuhiko's paint can get womb-deep, like the colorful excrements of a unicorn, adorned with pink feathers.

There is the first encounter with a painter's oeuvre. An impression as fast as light, the overall effect of somebody's mark.

A brand-new sensation of a personality, somebody's individual print, his voice.

Some years ago, I walked into Katsuhiko's studio.

It was an open studio evening in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien. By the time I reached Katsuhiko’s, I was well saturated with the load of different attitudes and personalities, but his called my attention.

It was a refreshment!

HIS PAINTERLY INTUITION MADE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON ME, CURIOSITY CALLED ME IN.

I took a long, good look, taking the colors, textures, movements, and symbols in, and I grabbed a visit card from the table, knowing I'd look it up again.

During our first conversation about his painting, Katsuhiko spoke about it as an act of liberation! As a manifestation of the true needs of the self as opposed to mainstream societies’ demands, causing imbalances, creating mental, physical, and spiritual damage.

"CERTAIN TENDENCIES FOR ORDER MUST BE TAMED FOR ONE TO THRIVE IN CHAOS."

It's about managing what you know and what you don’t know.

Life and its mysteries,

chaos,

passion,

meaning.

Something might happen when you crawl into painting without knowing!

I was very happy to have the chance to put up a show of Katsuhiko’s in FRAMED, and it was a beautiful one!

The way paint is being bent. 

The overflow of gestures, the appearance of a symbol, a sign, unfamiliar yet a carrier of specific, well-tuned energy and meaning.

Katsuhiko referred to his paintings as creatures, and they are. 

In some cases, the gestures are taken to their extreme, sometimes holding an almost ridiculous amount of paint, by the kilos! 

He had a scheme for the installation in FRAMED, and though I tried several different arrangements, I ended up realizing his was perfect!

I think I have never seen anyone hanging paintings with such meticulous attention… 

You could see them as landscapes

spacescapes 

innerscapes 

microscopic… telescopic…

What matters is their charisma, their power of conviction! 

Hanging there with authority, autonomic creatures of beauty and meditation. 

By Ofir Dor