Things that emerge on the dark colored canvas: are they animals or plants? Or, perhaps they are some kind of spiritual entities like spirits. They all bring back some memories, as if we had seen them before. It seems they quietly try to have contact with us by stretching out their limbs and antennas freely. People have no idea where to go in this stagnant modern society. The “things” stand still in the dark, which has been fading away because of the florescent light that is present everywhere.

Akahane says the shining darkness –like one he would find on the way back home from school, in the bush surrounding the shrine, and on the hill- that still remains in his memory is where his inspiration comes from. Thus he entitled this exhibition ‘Shining in the Dark’. We, tired people, will surely find peace, when we sense or feel them hiding in the dark.

Developing his previous works, the new works feature various “things” that appear everywhere on the canvas. His unique matiere that is produced out of the piles of pigments fully expresses his world-view.