SGW Lab is pleased to present new works by Yuta Segawa.  

 

Since ancient times, pots with human faces have been made in various areas. It was for religious ceremonies and sometimes as decoration, and portraiture has always been an important theme in art.　 In Segawa’s career, faces and self-portraits were important themes before his miniature series.  

 

‘Lockdown and mask wearing during COVID-19 reduced physical contact and concealed human faces. Not being able to read facial expressions from someone else’s face made communication uninteresting, and I felt stifled that I couldn’t express myself using my face or facial expressions. I felt that, for humans, faces and facial expressions are primitive forms of expression’.　  

 

Segawa says that in the last two years, he has played unconsciously by attaching faces to failed pots. His motivation to highlight the facial expressions that have been suppressed by wearing masks and staying at home has sought form through clay. In this exhibition, you can see how the artist has practised the important theme of portraiture throughout his life during COVID-19.