『あわい』　Awai - Resonant Space
  Kai Harada / 原田楓居

Kai Harada’s work turns its gaze toward those areas where boundaries – between city and forest, self and other, inside and outside – blur into one another and open into a shared expanse. What emerges is a space that simply drifts, quietly enveloping the heart. It is not through grand material gestures, but through delicate lines and colors that beauty and tranquility within this ambiguity become perceptible.

His studies in artistic anatomy at the Tokyo University of the Arts laid the foundation for his understanding of the line, not merely as a formal element, but as a bearer of physical presence and inner landscapes. Moving between drawing and painting, his practice shapes – from fragments of memory and fleeting impressions – an indeterminate yet rich expanse.

Japanese culture is abundant with “Awai.” Spaces such as the engawa (veranda) or the area beneath the eaves connect inside and outside; in Nō theater, the waki figure mediates between the real world and the otherworldly. Harada’s works evoke such in-between spaces, opening quiet realms and fields of imagination for the viewer.

Born in Tokyo in 1989, lives and works in Tokyo.