Yuya Hashizume’s practice is an attempt to reexamine how painting can exist in an era where the modern value of originality has been called into question. At first glance, his works appear as lighthearted images drawn from the vocabulary of manga and pop culture. Yet beneath this surface lies an extremely critical perspective on the contemporary visual environment, which is founded on the premises of reference and reproduction.

Hashizume identifies “imitation” as the starting point of his artistic expression. In this context, the subject is already constituted as an accumulation of images from others, and the notion of a “completely original” work is relativized. While this stance evokes the history of Pop Art’s appropriation of existing images, it unfolds on a more everyday and tangible level. In other words, his work is based not so much on a methodology of appropriation as on the recognition that reference itself is a condition of existence.

The tears depicted in his representative work “eyewater” do not refer to any specific narrative or psychological state. Rather, they serve as a device that visualizes the state in which emotions circulate as symbols. Like a single panel from a manga, the image is detached from its context, and its meaning is left open to the viewer’s interpretation. In this way, the painting functions not as an expression of the inner self, but as an interface that opens up pathways for interpretation.

Furthermore, Hashizume’s works feature repeatable forms and a two-dimensional quality, placing them in continuity with the fields of design and product design. What is significant here is that he treats painting not as an object imbued with a singular aura, but as an image open to reproduction and circulation. This approach redefines the position of painting in the contemporary era, where images are disseminated through digital media and social media.

Furthermore, Hashizume does not conceal the relationship between production and distribution. By incorporating connections to the market and responses to the desires of others into the very fabric of the work rather than leaving them outside it, he distances himself from the myth of art’s autonomy. The “lightness” referred to here is not merely a superficial style, but an ethical stance that refuses to feign gravitas or purity.

Yuya Hashizume’s practice demonstrates how painting can endure in a contemporary world where elements such as reference, emotion, circulation, and subjectivity interpenetrate one another. His “lightness” is not a lack of depth, but rather a new form of reality in an era where weight has become difficult to sustain. In this context, painting is established not through guarantees of uniqueness or interiority, but within a set of variable and open relationships.