HEBIME
Re-cogni-thing!
March 4, 2022
INTRODUCTION
Hebime has intrigued many by his distinctive “Acrylic Scratching” technique, which excavates innumerable expressions through multiple layers of acrylic paints. However, regarding his formative newness, the artist himself is indifferent about whether or not his methods should be classified as “contemporary art”.
According to the artist, the words 'wakeru' (to distinguish) and 'wakaru' (to appreciate) are etymologically the same. People understand the means through distinguishing and differentiating. The work is only the result of the one observing by classifying. Thus, the act of seeing becomes endless as the number of times perceived; becoming a mere mass of paint, an art brut, or contemporary art. Perhaps, not even a painting. What exists is in fact, infinite to which objects are being perceived.
ABOUT
Born in 1982 in Kobe, Japan, Hebime is a self-taught artist who dropped out of high school due to depression and began to study painting on his own. Influenced by Surrealism and Van Gogh, he arrived at his own technique by carving a surface consisting of many layers of acrylic paints using a chisel and sometimes randomly mixing with lumps of paint left over from previous works.
This unique method is called "acrylic scratching" which leaves a sense of awe and wonder. The variations are infinite, from the figurative forms of his early years to the more abstract forms and patterns of his recent work which shows unrelenting passion in his approach. One of the most fascinating aspects of his work is the use of color, that even the artist himself does not know what to expect. The skill in the artist's chiseling combined with the thrill of an accidental creation, creates an exciting new form for which the viewer can feel Hebime's artistry.
