Michiyo Kamei

“I have always had an interest in the body. But what is it? It is perhaps something ambivalent, at the same time a component of nature, a small part of a whole, and an envelope, an individual possession. We cannot ignore the eroticism contained in man, which comes alive and ends up dying, in a sort of cycle. It is not just a question of pleasure, it is not a question of pleasure either, it is an opportunity to think about life and death. I feel that the body is an imposing dimension which contains life, death and sex. It is a “carnal spectacle” that I would like to achieve in my painting. In Japan, anatomical plates and erotic art are considered to be hidden arts. "Why is this prohibited?" “Why are we hiding it?”, And as I paint, the paradox of the situation appears to me: “We need it but we want to hide it…” This problem interests me a lot. My painting is for me a way of glorifying the body, the human being and the life. ” - Michiyo Kamei (2018)