--Please tell us about your own work, how and why you arrived at your current style. Also, how did you come to your current style of painting? For example, were you painting figurative works?

When I was young, during my training and entrance examinations, I was figurative then, too. At that time, I studied paintings by Cézanne and after, which were established in the modern era. I liked Balthus, and I learned how to make paintings by copying him and tried painting with thick paints. In addition, during the period when I studied classical technique, I painted motifs, but the so-called classical technique requires a good procedure. In the traditional world, a bad painter cannot climb to a higher level. There was a rigorous pursuit of depiction, just like tsume shogi (Japanese chess game). There was a time when I was obsessed with it. But as I continued to describe the picture, I was attracted to the indistinct, wavering picture that appeared in the middle of the drawing. In fact, I could never surpass Rembrandt. And I didn t present my work until I was confronted with a screen that really looked at me. Anyway, I guess you could say that I have stuck to "flat" and "painting" until today."

--We heard that your study in New York, U.S.A. (*1) provided you with various opportunities to study abroad. Did anything influence your production?

When I lived in the U.S., I was able to see works in styles from all over the world, as you know, in New York City, where I was staying. I saw many classical and contemporary works. As a member of the Conservation studio, I frequently went to NYU facilities and to museums to study and view art. During my stay, I was greatly inspired and encouraged by a major exhibition in the footsteps of Robert Rauschenberg. I was also very impressed and inspired by the primitive art I saw at a museum in Harlem, New York. Experiencing the world I had seen from afar up to that point up close in New York, I was impacted in many ways. After returning to Japan, I decided to use my own nationality as a source of expression, as many people who have lived abroad do. Just as I was inspired by the local black art, African art, and tribal art in New York, I decided to express the view of nature that I have felt as a Japanese person. My study abroad in New York provided me with many such opportunities."

「studio」

--What was the production like after you returned to Japan?

After returning to Japan, when I had not yet decided on my style, I started painting black-and-white ink-like paintings based on black for the time being, and then created works that drew on classic colors from traditional colors such as gray and dull. I became interested in the world of Japanese antiquity and was influenced by it. The sense of seasons, the changing colors and shapes that change with the passage of time, the impermanence of all things, or the sense of the seasons. I focused on the aesthetic sense of carefully naming even rotten and withered colors, and the sensitivity of the delicate old Japanese people. It was the impetus for me to trace the contours of the world of the tea ceremony and the garden."

「Singapore Y2Arts」

--How did you link the world of Japanese gardens to the creation of your artwork? 

The world of the garden, the Japanese garden, is about creating a small schematic world in imitation of the natural world. It is also a world of abstraction, if you will, through the sensibility of the gardener. This is exactly the case with karesansui, or dry landscape gardening. When I started creating paintings inspired by the designs of garden ponds, stepping stones, karesansui, etc., I visited various gardens. One time, I visited Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto, and in an exchange with a monk who appeared, he asked me, "Do you know what this is?" to which I replied, "Yes, what is it?" I replied, "No, this is a boat," or "This is a cow," to which he suddenly said, "Oh," and I thought ...... this was just like the interactions I had with customers at the art galleries I had visited. When I used the keyword "garden" and the design and materials of Japanese gardens in conversation with the viewers, the customers understanding was very good. When I told them, "This is a motif of stepping stones," "This is a color modeled after a pond the day after it rained," or "This is a snow scene," (the customers) said, "Oh, I also have a snow day. I have also seen this snowy scene at a temple on a snowy day. Even if the screen is only a color plane, if I tell the source of the colors, the viewer s experience is projected into the picture and interpreted. In this way, the viewer enters my world as if crossing a ladder. Even if the painting is completely abstract, once the viewer enters the painting, he or she can see it without explanation. It doesn t matter if it is abstract or figurative. There are various kinds of customers and viewers, but there are also those who want a place to hold on to when they look at a work of art. They want to understand the painting before they buy it, and they also want to explain it to others."

「Rei-un-in of Tohukuji Temple, Kyoto, Japan」 

 --Please tell us about Mr. Ogata. unique coloring and his approach and method to color. What was it that led you to start painting in the way you do in the first place, where the colors are layered on top of each other and the top layer reflects the color of the layer from the very bottom?

Before I studied abroad, I was a student in a laboratory at Tokyo University of the Arts, which was one of the most maniacal laboratories in the university. It was a class where we were not only learning by reading documents and materials, but also understanding the structure of paintings by classical masters such as van Eyck, Rembrandt, and Rubens through practice, and trying to understand what they were doing in a schematic manner. We made panels based on the formulas of the time and painted several layers on them. The masters of the time did not create white base coats. They painted several layers on top of a pre-colored base coat. Rubens, Titian, and others had their own initial base color, and they were influenced by it until the final stage of painting, and they used it to complete their paintings. I repeated practical skills to understand this. My teacher at the time said to me, "How come you guys are so bad at this?" (laughs). However, this process, which did not go well, influenced my subsequent painting. First, I would create a dark or light ground, and the colors I would put on top would be influenced by those colors. No matter how strong the yellow color is, if a preliminary dark or light color is applied, the ground color and yellow will overlap on the retina, resulting in a moist, harmonious yellow. It sounds a bit impressionistic, though. If several layers of paint are applied, such as one or two coats, the expression will change even more. The potential of the applied color itself is demonstrated, and the power of color is brought into play. I formed it with that simple principle in mind."

--So the classical techniques of Western painting are the inspiration?

The colors I use are water-based. Watercolor is not a material that can be layered so many times. So, if I were to say that I should use oil paint, I would say that I don t feel comfortable with the way I create colors. I spent a lot of time studying oil paints and techniques, but I gradually moved away from oil painting. I began to think that I could make more use of my sensitivity in the way that water-based materials cause the pigments to sink, the way the stain spreads slowly as it dries, and the tension of calligraphy, where you don t write twice. Of course, there are many clever techniques for oil painting as well. But I express myself by using natural phenomena and valuing their expressions. ......I think of it as using the surface tension and gravity of water.

But if you paint over the watercolor while it is wet, it becomes muddy. So I repeatedly studied the technique of doing it in such a way that it would not become muddy. For me, working with water gives me the feeling that I can do it in any direction. In short, I guess you could say that I paint watercolor paintings with the technique of oil painting. However, in the new series I have been working on recently, I have been creating uneven surfaces. I have always wanted to create such craft-like works. Like reliefs. Maybe it s something like the influence of my grandfather (* Ogata s grandfather)."

--I believe your grandfather is ......

He was an engraver. I painted flowers, birds, wind, and the moon on metal plates under the painting name "Yosin. There were two types of metal engraving techniques: one was to engrave on plates of gold, silver, and copper, and the other was to expand the plate by tapping it. If I had an original landscape, it might be the engraving. There are some traditional engravings that are three-dimensional or relief-like. I don t feel like I am painting much these days. I m looking for that kind of impact and comfort. ......

「SHOP ASPLUND」

--Mr. Ogata, you also do restorations.

My first encounter with restoration was in my mid-twenties. In fact, I was not very interested in this profession. My mentor encouraged me to tell the workshop that I had been interested in it for a long time, and I was lucky enough to get into the workshop. I was wondering when I would quit, but when I came to my senses, I was firmly on the staff of the workshop. I have also experienced training abroad and have restored various works of art. It has been my fortune to meet many people through paintings. Observing and treating works of art, which are considered masterpieces, while directly touching them has given me many insights and lessons. The physical observation aspect of the work is important in restoration, and I believe it has helped me develop a calm eye for observation. They also contributed greatly in the creation of colors. I learned color mixing and layering procedures, as well as how to stain paints to create an ancient beauty. I think they are utilized in various situations. Sometimes I find interesting impacts on a damaged screen. At such times, I get hints for my work. I think, "I wonder if I can use this. Some of these things come out on the canvas while I m working on the piece. It s a slightly different view of the world of Kobi."

--Can you tell us about your philosophy in production?

This is not a big deal. There is a book called "Sakuteiki" written in the Heian period (794-1185), which tells us how to make a garden. But when people try to make a garden, they collect only the best stones and try to make it beautiful. I realized that this is very important for me. When I try to make my paintings "good," or "finish beautifully," they don t turn out well, and I get confused. When I go to the screen and seek a view of nature that captures natural phenomena, I feel as if my tolerance for what happens on the screen has broadened, or that a new aesthetic sense has been born. It is as if I have made technical progress by this word casually. It is important to become proficient in one s methods. But for me, it s not about whether it s skillful or not, or whether it has to be beautiful; it s about how it behaves naturally, how it expresses itself."

--Do you have anything to say about your future work?

In recent years, in addition to solo exhibitions, I have been focusing on exhibiting art in public spaces. These spaces are not galleries or museums, but rather hotels, residences, hospitals, restaurants, and other places where people gather casually and where the flow of people s lives is constant. Art is a space where people gather and flow together. I hope to continue creating works in such spaces. I am always alone in creating artworks, but in public art, I work together with dealers, gallerists, designers, and on-site designers. It is not an easy job, but I would be happy if I could do work that would be considered authentic, casually standing in the space of the present age, like the sliding door paintings, folding screens, and hanging scrolls that existed in the past.

「Sheraton Miyako Hotel」

（*1）1997-1998: Studied abroad in the U.S. under the Agency for Cultural Affairs