Gen Aihara

Born in 1972 in Hyogo, Japan, Gen Aihara moved to New York in 1995 soon after completing his BFA at Kyoto University of Art and Design. He received his MFA from SUNY-Purchase in 1999. Aihara's work is in the collections of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan, and The Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame, among others. "The images in the series, “Composition of Air,” are created by the technique of photogram—the most primitive of photographic methods—which is to place objects directly on to a light sensitive material, and then expose to light. "By blowing, drawing, and generally manipulating bubbles and lines of water on the paper’s surface, I ground the subject in reality while ultimately producing an image of pure abstraction. The shadows of actual objects are proof of the objects’ existence. Through art making I am trying to believe that I am truly existing in this space and time." --Gen Aihara