Prayer: Touch of Prayer

inkjet print and charcoal on MBM paper
h: 101.4, w: 65.6 cm
2025

*Delivery will be made after the solo exhibition "Prayer" (Gallery Nomart / May 17th - June 14th, 2025).
https://www.nomart.co.jp/exhibition/detail.php?exhCode=0217

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Artist Comment / Keiichi Ikegami

What Is "Tension"?

When I was young, I often fell ill.
My parents supported me with dietary therapy and philosophical guidance.
Through that experience, I have continued to contemplate illness, stress, and the concept of "tension."

The difference between feeling well and unwell
might lie in the internal pressures of the body and the nature of breathing.
Before my relative passed away, I keenly sensed a shift in their being.
Since then, I have captured what I feel through acupressure with my hands,
and translated it into charcoal drawings, further expanding it into sculptures.

Rather than saying "I am living," I feel more like "I am being kept alive."
Life's force and "tension" always seem intertwined, overflowing within me every day.
I wish to give shape to that force.

About This Exhibition, "Prayer"

When I touch someone, I move my hands with a feeling as if in prayer.
It's not merely to relieve "tension."
I believe I can capture and draw the forms that emerge along with life's energy.
This act of creation is also a prayer—one filled with joy and gratitude.

When a presence beyond myself breathes life into my work, that prayer transforms into an artistic expression.