There is nothing new anymore.
This is the thought that I had most often since I started painting. Although I haven't studied the entire history of art, most of the ideas I come up with have already been attempted by previous artists. Even so, the desire to create a unique painting that no one could imitate has always been in a corner of my heart. This painting is one of the results of that desire.
Using text in a painting was the easiest idea I could come up with as both a novelist and a painter. However, I wanted to create something different from the already existing genre of literati painting. Whether this painting aligns with my intention remains to be seen, but in any case, I attempted to create a work with a different feel from traditional literati painting. This painting was made by engraving text that I personally wrote, character by character, onto the canvas. Strictly speaking, rather than saying I painted it, it would be more accurate to say I worked on it.
The title of the painting is "門 問 聞" (Door, Question, Listen). This is also the title of the text expressed in the painting. The content of the text within the painting is as follows:
"I started drawing a door. Why? I won't take your question. One day, the door approached me. I have stood outside a door before. Standing before a closed door, unable to guess what lies within, I earnestly longed for the inside. The outside world I saw through a small window from within the door was always vague and frightening. Yet, it stirred longing. Your question that I declined, I now ask myself: Why the door? Still unanswered, the question remains before the door, and I ask again: Why?