My first exhibition was in Miami in December 2014. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of showcasing my work in various countries, collaborating with several galleries and museums along the way. But 2024 is the year where everything finally clicked—the year all the dots connected. I now have a long-term project, Kura Curiosa, that I feel genuinely passionate about, more than anything I’ve worked on before.
Over the past decade, I explored countless media and styles—mazes, painting, photography, digital art, 3D printing, vinyl wrapping… Each time, I was excited at the start, but that excitement would fade. Something always felt incomplete, like there was a missing piece I couldn’t identify.
I remember in 2023, introducing a new series to Koei-san, the owner of Whitestone Gallery in Tokyo. He told me: “The work is interesting and well-produced, but… I don’t know, something is missing. It’s not in the art; it’s in you. I can’t explain… It’s just a feeling.” At the time, I didn’t understand. I tried to intellectualize his feedback, tweaking and reworking the art endlessly. Instead of progress, I got completely lost for months.
Then one day—out of nowhere—everything changed. The idea for Kura Curiosa came to me out of nowhere, and it felt right. Evident. Clear. Even after the usual “honeymoon phase” of a new project had passed, the feeling didn’t go away. And it still hasn’t—on this final day of 2024, the passion remains as strong as ever.
The life of an artist is not easy. The pressure to sell your work often distorts your creative vision. You tweak, you adjust, you fix—trying to make it “more sellable”—and in the process, you risk losing your authenticity. It’s a trap that leads to disappointment and often, mediocrity.
But the truth I’ve learned is this: things only start moving in the right direction when you embrace your real vision, your real self—without compromise. Even if it doesn’t sell immediately, even if it feels risky. That’s when everything starts to align.
For me, that realization took 10 years.
