ARTIST STATEMENT

I am MAKKY, an artist from Ishikawa, Japan.
Since childhood, I have carried a deep insecurity about my appearance, which made me long for the beauty I saw in women.

To me, true beauty is more than outward appearance—it is a quiet strength, a graceful resilience, an occasional innocence, and an honesty that does not hide one’s vulnerabilities. A beautiful woman lives authentically, just as she is.

Above all, I am captivated by the eyes.

As the Japanese proverb says, “The eyes speak as much as the mouth,” they are not merely organs of sight, but mirrors reflecting the human heart—joy and sorrow, love and unease, the full spectrum of emotion.

The women I depict range from real figures — such as Audrey Hepburn — to symbolic portraits inspired by real people. In every work, I open the “window to the soul” and challenge myself to convey as much emotion as possible through the eyes alone. Drawing is essential to capturing the finest details and delicate expressions, and I create using papers I have collected from Japan and around the world.

My journey with paper began simply. I was inspired by a half-relief portrait of a foreign actress made from paper, and I began to experiment. Since I loved drawing faces, I created them endlessly, using all kinds of paper.

Today, I use a wide range of material — from Western-style specialty papers made in Japan and Korea, to traditional Japanese washi and Korean hanji, both made by hand with ancient methods.  My studio holds a collection of hundreds of sheets of paper in varied textures, tones, and translucencies. Many viewers tell me the eyes of my subjects are striking, “as if they draw you in,”. I believe this effect comes in large part from the unique qualities of washi.

By chance, I discovered a new technique: illuminating my paper works from behind. I now craft the eyes with washi, so light can pass through them.  By controlling how the light escapes, I deepen the emotion within each gaze. The fragility, suppleness, and ephemeral beauty of washi mirror the very qualities I seek in the women I portray, enhancing the poetic presence of each piece.

My work is driven by an enduring curiosity—how far paper can be pushed, how deeply it can speak to the heart—and by the memory of my late friend, also named “MAKKY.” He was my irreplaceable confidant, who always beileved in my art. Before he passed away, he told me, “You are already capable of living as an artist.”

Every woman I create is, in some way, a reflection of myself—and perhaps also a manifestation of my love for him.