Studies of Human Mind Series
Naoki Fuku's oeuvre is a critical approach to the controversy of the human existence. It questions the social and political situation of the individual in its original cultural environment. It is all about existence and ways of coping with it or getting around it. The different series of “Study of Human Mind” play with the concept of identity. On the one hand they make identification difficult if not altogether impossible and on the other hand they manage to give a striking picture of a complex inner world. One could look upon people's identity as a multitude of layers. Knowing all the layers, however, does not necessarily mean to really grasp the identity behind them. The artist is playing with these layers he is putting them on top of each other in a constant process of hiding them. Human being's identity can be explained as a multitude of layers but also as a conglomerate of characteristics. Hiding those characteristics means taking off facets and showing another existence. The works seem to be variations of one and the same man showing a multitude of personalities and characteristics. Thus this variety helps the viewer to see traits of the person behind them. It culminates in a game about how much the artist has changed what the viewer is looking at. The artist is playing with the viewer’s perception and expectation while showing a remarkable array of identities.
Fuku creates new identities and shows the inner life of the resulting characters while playing with the layers which are quasi wrapped around it to represent inner horrors and convulsions in a very expressionistic way.
Naoki Fuku's oeuvre is a critical approach to the controversy of the human existence. It questions the social and political situation of the individual in its original cultural environment. It is all about existence and ways of coping with it or getting around it. The different series of “Study of Human Mind” play with the concept of identity. On the one hand they make identification difficult if not altogether impossible and on the other hand they manage to give a striking picture of a complex inner world. One could look upon people's identity as a multitude of layers. Knowing all the layers, however, does not necessarily mean to really grasp the identity behind them. The artist is playing with these layers he is putting them on top of each other in a constant process of hiding them. Human being's identity can be explained as a multitude of layers but also as a conglomerate of characteristics. Hiding those characteristics means taking off facets and showing another existence. The works seem to be variations of one and the same man showing a multitude of personalities and characteristics. Thus this variety helps the viewer to see traits of the person behind them. It culminates in a game about how much the artist has changed what the viewer is looking at. The artist is playing with the viewer’s perception and expectation while showing a remarkable array of identities.
Fuku creates new identities and shows the inner life of the resulting characters while playing with the layers which are quasi wrapped around it to represent inner horrors and convulsions in a very expressionistic way.
- kirameki 120x150cm paper 2016 (patricia meyer))
Lost
Just like the other two series of “Study of Human Mind” Fuku’s "Lost" still approaches the controversy of the human existence and its complex inner world. Other than the two series it associates more with memories and realities, consciousness, the subconscious and the unknown. It still depicts characters and identities but in a much less drastic and dramatic way. It feels a bit as if the lost and tortured beings from Study of Human Mind found their place in the world. The artist works with a new combination of ornament and image which evokes the memory of the first small scale series Babel in my Mind. Fuku’s technique though differs in many ways and is actually based on Japanese traditions. He often uses brush pens to work on these portraits so he can catch or express a fleeting glimpse of reality before it is sucked into the complete abstract. Thin black interlacing curved lines slowly build into a construction that manifests as facial features and expresses the human form in some vague way playing with the viewer’s perception of reality. New is the artist’s inclusion of background and subtle colour which contributes to this more peaceful impression this series evokes. Like in Study of Human Mind Fuku often relies on famous characters he bans on the canvas in his distinctive style while encoding himself into those.
Just like the other two series of “Study of Human Mind” Fuku’s "Lost" still approaches the controversy of the human existence and its complex inner world. Other than the two series it associates more with memories and realities, consciousness, the subconscious and the unknown. It still depicts characters and identities but in a much less drastic and dramatic way. It feels a bit as if the lost and tortured beings from Study of Human Mind found their place in the world. The artist works with a new combination of ornament and image which evokes the memory of the first small scale series Babel in my Mind. Fuku’s technique though differs in many ways and is actually based on Japanese traditions. He often uses brush pens to work on these portraits so he can catch or express a fleeting glimpse of reality before it is sucked into the complete abstract. Thin black interlacing curved lines slowly build into a construction that manifests as facial features and expresses the human form in some vague way playing with the viewer’s perception of reality. New is the artist’s inclusion of background and subtle colour which contributes to this more peaceful impression this series evokes. Like in Study of Human Mind Fuku often relies on famous characters he bans on the canvas in his distinctive style while encoding himself into those.
Babel in my Mind
The artist’s combination of texts and images lines up with a variety of well-known examples from contemporary art and art history. The way he fills his characters’ heads with texts, though, evokes the story of the Tower of Babel according to which God disapproved of the attitude of the people who tried to reach for the sky in order to make a name for themselves and even attempt to equal him. He punished them for their arrogance by confounding their speech and scattering them all over the world. This so-called confusion of tongues also takes place in the minds of Fuku’s characters. Rudimentary pencil lines enclose a jumble of inked texts in different languages which reveal the deepest inner self of the artist. He thinks in Japanese, English, German and Russian. Those languages represent important stations in his very international career. At first glance the sketches seem to be simple and elementary, but when the viewer’s eyes embark on the combination of image and text he becomes aware of the profound content of the works.
The artist’s combination of texts and images lines up with a variety of well-known examples from contemporary art and art history. The way he fills his characters’ heads with texts, though, evokes the story of the Tower of Babel according to which God disapproved of the attitude of the people who tried to reach for the sky in order to make a name for themselves and even attempt to equal him. He punished them for their arrogance by confounding their speech and scattering them all over the world. This so-called confusion of tongues also takes place in the minds of Fuku’s characters. Rudimentary pencil lines enclose a jumble of inked texts in different languages which reveal the deepest inner self of the artist. He thinks in Japanese, English, German and Russian. Those languages represent important stations in his very international career. At first glance the sketches seem to be simple and elementary, but when the viewer’s eyes embark on the combination of image and text he becomes aware of the profound content of the works.
