Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building 2nd floor, Men's Creators, will host a collaborative pop-up event "11:11 (Eleven Eleven)" with contemporary artist Takanori Ichikawa and the popular brand <TAKAHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist.> starting October 14th (Wednesday).

This project came to fruition after the two collaborated on a collection for the Fall/Winter 2020 season. Ichikawa's works, which are crafted using the faint flame of incense sticks, have attracted attention not only from the art world but also from people active in various fields such as fashion, musicians, and actors.

In this interview, Mr. Ichikawa shared his journey to becoming an artist, his encounter with Takahiro Miyashita, the designer of <Takahiro Miyashita The Soloist.>, and his thoughts on this exhibition.

The root of my creative process lies in the act of transforming hazy, fading fragments of memory into something tangible, thereby creating a sense of security.

—Ms. Ichikawa's encounter with art dates back to her childhood.

When I was in elementary school, I saw a collection of Richard Prince's works and thought he was creating freely and selfishly, but I later learned that he was actually strictly following rules. At the time, I felt that there was something cheeky about it, like he was mocking adults, and I thought it was really cool to my young mind. I also became interested in it because I mistakenly thought that I could do it too.

—After having such experiences as a child, you lived a life away from art for a while.

After that, I didn't draw again until I was about 16. During that time, I was involved in music and exploring various forms of expression. This is because, even though the way I output my work changed, whether it was through painting or music, the content I wanted to create remained the same: memories and time. For example, I would carefully craft my artwork from the casual memories of everyday life that I would suddenly recall, triggered by things like the smell of the city, the humidity of the day, the body heat of people, or the music I heard, making sure not to destroy them.

—That feeling of being curious about those fragments of memory began to sprout in my childhood.

Because it was difficult for me to settle in one place for a long time due to my own circumstances, I lived a life of moving around after only living in one place for a short period, and from a young age, I had a fear and resignation towards change. In that context, the fundamental starting point for creating my artwork was simply to give myself a sense of security. Currently, I am only exhibiting works that involve scraping away burn marks and layers of paint because they are the closest to the images in my mind, but I am constantly searching and experimenting with various materials to get closer to the images in my head. Rather than honing my technique, it is a continuous process of how easily I can get closer to the images in my mind, and how I can transform fragments of fragile memories into "things" that provide a sense of security. Even if those memories have no meaning to me, I want to transform the fear of change and loss into a sense of security.

It was a very pleasant experience to be able to work with Mr. Miyashita from NEXT.