Saito Hiroyuki 　　- About Normal Temperature Diary -

About twenty years ago, my younger brother, a carpenter, built our house. I helped him. A wooden house appeared in a new residential area. At my wife's request, I applied plaster to the wall beside the open staircase. With the leftover plaster, I painted a fresco-like picture on a small piece of wood. Around that time, I stopped looking at art magazines and exhibitions. I avoided using art terminology. Words like contemporary, art, space... I stopped making and depicting, drawing on canvas, and facing large screens. I just wanted to draw pictures on plaster. Since then, I've drawn every morning.

One day, I found an old fly swatter. I cut out the rusty wire mesh, applied plaster, and painted on it. The mesh and plaster supported each other, feeling both fragile and beautiful. It was also interesting that I could cut it with scissors after painting, changing its size and shape. My desk became filled with small, unfinished paintings. I hadn't intended to show them to anyone, but I was persuaded to hold a small solo exhibition. Seeing my paintings, some said they felt nostalgia, others said they were like haiku. I draw the daily life and minor events around me, just as they are, at a normal temperature. Like a diary...

Due to COVID-19, the voices of the children who used to come to paint are no longer here. I made a small model of our house with the leftover clay intended for the children and painted it. Among the houses covered with siding, only our cedar-sided house had a texture close to the ground, weathered over a long time. This paper clay series? I found it quite interesting, so I also made and painted old elementary schools, trains, and a friend's house.

Last year, for the first time after turning sixty, I set foot in Shikoku. Despite being able to see Shikoku from my birthplace on clear days. The islands seen from the bridge over the sea looked different from the Seto Inland Sea I knew. I decided to make and paint an old lighthouse with paper clay.

(February 2024, Saito Hiroyuki)