RYU SATAKE

Your practice centers on the “disappearance of contours”. When did this idea first become central to your artistic language?

This idea developed gradually through my background in architecture and digital art. I became interested in the moment when an image is no longer recognized as an object but begins to exist as a spatial condition. Since then, the disappearance of contours has become the foundation of my artistic practice.

RYU SATAKE | Presence Between Emergence And Afterimagе

You describe contours as boundaries between forms, meanings, identities, and spaces. What happens conceptually when these boundaries begin to dissolve?

When boundaries dissolve, fixed meanings disappear. Instead of recognizing an object, the viewer experiences the movement of space itself. The work exists in the transition between appearance and disappearance.

In your statement, you write: “Black is not a color. Black is a structure”. How does black function in your work?

Black is not simply a visual element. It organizes space, depth, and perception. I use black as a structural framework that allows presence to emerge rather than as a color that fills an image.

RYU SATAKE | Presence Between Emergence And Afterimagе

Whales, birds, and hybrid winged creatures appear throughout the series. What do they represent?

They are not symbols with fixed meanings. They function as traces of presence. They emerge briefly, dissolve again, and guide the viewer toward an experience of space rather than narrative.

How do you create the tension between presence and absence?

I carefully balance visibility and disappearance. I avoid complete recognition so that the image continuously shifts between being present and absent depending on the viewer’s perception.

RYU SATAKE | Presence Between Emergence And Afterimagе

Surface and texture play an important role. How do you develop these complex visual textures?

The textures are created through repeated digital layering and reconstruction. Rather than decorating the image, they generate depth and ambiguity, allowing space itself to become perceptible.

RYU SATAKE | Presence Between Emergence And Afterimagе

What would you like viewers to experience?

I do not want viewers to search for a correct interpretation. I hope they experience a subtle presence that cannot be completely identified or explained. My work invites them to feel space before they recognize an image.