STATEMENT OF WORK

Ryota Yahagi is fascinated by the transition of situations and conditions merging to form a new kind of reality. The subject he pursues is multifaceted, and the material is so vast that it cannot be confined within the boundaries of words.
He wishes to capture this visually in his drawings.

At times, it may be translated into something that resembles a landscape drawing, and at times, an organic living form seen through a microscope or telescope.
In such cases, the sense of scale, whether large or small, ceases to matter. What is crucial is whether that moment is captured unpretentiously, just as it is.
Then he puts these drawings aside, until his impression of the specific trigger incident has faded. Later, he revisits the drawings and reinterprets them visually, using a different medium.
In the course of this process, he often deepens the clarity of his reinterpretation through poetic form. This development can then evolve into installations or other works that further expand the meaning and presence of the original drawing.

Ryota Yahagi seeks to question new forms of reality perceived beneath the surface of his consciousness and to define what is genuine through his art, by reflecting on his unremembered drawings of the past. This is something that inspires him artistically, all the while providing him with sheer pleasure and motivation to keep pursuing art.

Last night, I stepped on a snail. 

Damp air. 

Late hour, with dim street lights. 

I stepped on a snail. 

My foot crushed the shell of the snail and something thick gushed out. 

I felt it through the sole of my shoe, and it startled me. 

An unpleasant realization of what just happened. 

I stepped on a snail. 

The death of the snail was recognized, and through my sensory translation, 

it turned into a fact. 

The transition of an existence to non-existence. 

From a tangible form to a slime of cosmic mass and color. 

Poem from the graduation show ''I stepped on a snail last night'' at Kunstakademie düsseldorf