Li Kojin Itagaki solo exhibition "Love and Thirst." INTERVIEW（1/3）

―How did you feel about holding your first solo exhibition?

Li Kojin Itagaki: For about a year after the story, I have been thinking about the concept, the flow of the work, and the work itself, so when I brought it into the gallery and saw my work lined up all over the wall, it was very impressive. There was something. 

―This solo exhibition will be held in Osaka through Tokyo and Nagoya, but how about looking back so far?

Li Kojin Itagaki: The co-stars and related parties also came, but I was very grateful that I was able to see a side different from my usual work scene, and that I felt something from my work. The impression of the work received from customers is also from an unimaginable angle, so it is very fresh to think that you are seeing it with a sensibilities that you do not have. Until now, I have been presenting my work digitally, so I feel that it is a really valuable opportunity to see the work directly and get feedback. 

―The title is "Love and Thirst." Why did you choose the theme of "Thirst"?

Li Kojin Itagaki: Since it is a job that often outputs, we have to keep inputting so as not to die. But it's not mandatory for me, and reading books and touching various things is one of the things I've always been doing. Among them, I came across the twelve factors of Buddhism, which have twelve factors that cause suffering in human life. One of them is love, right? I've always thought that it would be interesting if I had the theme of my own work, so I'd like to hear this story this time, so I'd like to make a solo exhibition like a story with the theme of thirst.

―It was derived from Buddhism, right? How did you decide to work on a new method this time? 
  
I've been touching pictures for a long time in the movie "Blue Period" since about last summer. You've been practicing painting before you started shooting. I've been painting for a long time, but I didn't go to school or learn from my teacher, so for the first time, I told you what art is. One of the things I thought was that it would be interesting if I could combine the digital paintings I had drawn on my own and oil paintings well. In addition, as a textured expression of the relative things of love and thirst, which is the theme of this time, I thought that digital inorganicity and the freshness of paint would respond well. 

―Did you have any new discoveries or notices that were actually produced?
 
While drawing, I thought it was fun for myself, but in fact, I heard from customers that I saw the combination of digital and oil painting for the first time, which was interesting in a method I had never seen before, and I felt more potential. As a method of production, I felt that I wanted to pursue a variety of things.