Hiro Sakaguchi
Space after, 2015. 40 x 50 inches, acrylic on canvas.
Hiro Sakaguchi (born 1965 in Nagano, Japan) is an artist currently based in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. Using memories from his childhood as point of departure, his whimsical paintings and drawings deploy a lexicon of toys and games to confront modern issues such as the environment, world history, and popular culture. Originally from Japan, Sakaguchi moved to Philadelphia in the 1990’s to study at the University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively.
Solo exhibitions include Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine at Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia; Avert, Escape or Cope With at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art; and No Particular Place to Go at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His work has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including at the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland; the Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo, Japan and various others around the world.
Can you tell us a bit about the process of making your work?
I make an imagined world inspired by memory, my everyday experience and interest. I create small 9 x12 inch drawings. The small size allows me to be comfortable and more direct in order to put a mental image on paper. Drawing is the bone structure of my work to give shape to my thoughts, imagination or daydreams. Painting, on the other hand, emphasizes what I want to say by using a variety of paint applications to form an expression.
Tell us more about your work in the show.
Bear Fishing
This painting idea came to my mind after watching the long distance travel of salmon during a Natural Geographic episode. The TV show depicted salmon being eaten by grizzly bears in the streams of Alaska. At the end of their 100 mile journey home, the salmon are violently eaten by the beasts. As an individual who left my home country, my sympathy for the salmon and the anxiety regarding my return to home inspired this image.
The Woods
This image appeared in my mind while I was hiking in the Pennsylvania woods. I associated the darkness of the wood with the legend of the elephant’s grave yard. Elephants go to a particular place when they reach the end of their lives. Like the elephant grave yard, my memory of my childhood should have place to go and rest. In this painting, scattered childhood memories and toys are found deep within the woods.
What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?
Recently I’ve surfed internet to look at images of abandoned buildings.
Free association within my mind sets the groundwork for my imagery and is a common denominator in each piece.
Babel, 2022, after Bruegel (from series No Particular Place to Go) 2022. 9x12 inches, graphite, ink and watercolor on paper.
Who are some of your favorite artists? Or who has been inspirational recently?
Makoto Aida: long time artist friend from Japan whose genius never fails to inspire me
Randall Sellers: I love his imaginative world and finely detailed drawings.
Vapor Trail of Debris, 2014. 54 x 68inches, acrylic on canvas.
Do you have any shows coming up? Anything else you would like to share?
This spring I will be participating in a group show titled Real Estate at Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia.
I am currently in a two person exhibition entitled Narratives with Matthew Borgen at miniMAC, through Mount Airy Contemporary.
Hiro Sakaguchi’s work is included in our show “We Are Still in Eden,” January 7th - Febuary 28th, 2022. Visit his website here or on Instagram @hiro.sakaguchi.studio.