Ogasawara’s motifs range widely, encompassing flowers, living creatures, cityscapes, and natural landscapes. I believe the profound appeal of his work lies in his continual attempt to bring into painting the beauty he discovers within reality through his own eyes.
Several years have passed since I first encountered Ogasawara’s paintings, and recently I have found myself thinking that the beauty and vitality carried by the real things that have appeared before his eyes can never be fully captured by painting.
It is almost as if, for every step he takes forward, the beauty of the world advances one step further into an even deeper place. Perhaps Ogasawara is one of those artists who cannot help but pursue something that will remain forever beyond his reach, no matter how much of his life he dedicates to it. On one side lies what he has encountered, felt, and touched while living in the real world; on the other side lies the limitation of creation itself, which can never fully reach the reality from which it springs. The more sincerely a person opens his eyes to the world, the more painfully he comes to realize that its beauty has no end. The severity of devoting one’s entire life to such a pursuit, and the joy that arises from doing so, may well belong to a realm that can only be understood by those who have experienced it themselves.
Among the works of many artists I have encountered, this is a very rare experience. As a viewer standing before a painting, there are moments when something touches me deeply: a kind of “space” that seems to exist between the reality the artist may have personally encountered, felt, and touched, and the creative expression that emerged from that reality at the moment the work was made. At times, that space suggests a movement toward something that can never be completely attained. Yet at the same time, it also conveys the presence of something fulfilled and independent, born from the artist’s sensibility as it has been shaped and refined by reality itself. It is as if this presence stands alongside reality while remaining distinct from it.
This belongs to a realm of beauty entirely different from the still and perfected beauty that can be achieved through technical mastery alone. Rare works of art that contain such a space seem to hold a dynamic heat within them. As if they were living things, they continue to beat with a pulse uniquely their own through the passage of time, retaining the power to stir those who stand before them.
To continually encounter a beauty greater than oneself in the world, to receive it in one’s own way, and to keep attempting to absorb and understand it until it becomes part of oneself. I believe this is the essence and foundation of Ogasawara’s life as a painter. For decades, the core of his practice has existed in moments that come before painting itself: quietly observing a flower or a living creature, standing within vast natural landscapes or cities shaped by human activity, and feeling the breath, atmosphere, flow, and pace of life with his own senses. It is a place that exists before a brush is ever lifted and before even a blank canvas has been prepared. Many of the motifs Ogasawara chooses are familiar to us. Flowers, living creatures, and landscapes are things we encounter every day. Yet what has Ogasawara seen in them through his own eyes? To recognize that there are realms of art that can emerge only through such a way of seeing, and through his works to reflect on what we ourselves have seen and what we have passed by without seeing, may be one of the opportunities his work opens to us. As an art dealer, I would be delighted if this exhibition could provide visitors with an opportunity to open their own eyes in such a way.

KUJIRANOHONE GALLERY 2026
Mikiko Iida