NIGAO-MEN｜似顔面

I trace the potential of a face that can become anything.

 

In the world of Noh masks, the traditional practice is to faithfully reproduce old masks through a method called utsushi (copying).
Alongside this, there exists a lesser-known genre called sōsaku-men (creative masks):
masks carved with original expressions and themes—not based on existing archetypes—while still inheriting the traditional techniques and materials of Noh mask-making.
Unlike utsushi, which transmits fixed forms, sōsaku-men emerge from the carver’s imagination, bringing forth entirely new faces.

 

The masks I create—what I call NIGAO-MEN—belong to this lineage of sōsaku-men.

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In Japan, there is a cultural tradition known as nigao-e (likeness drawings),
which focuses not on photorealism, but on capturing the aura or impression a person gives off.

My NIGAO-MEN blend this idea of “tracing” with the spiritual ethos of Noh mask-making.

 

What I trace is neither form nor realism.

 

Resemblance is only a doorway.
Within each face, I search for something far beyond likeness—
an emotion, a force of nature, a threshold to another presence.

 

In a single face, I might find innocence, rage, sorrow, prayer.
The flicker of flame, the sweep of wind, the hush of moonlight.
When I sense these elements residing in someone’s face,
I try to carry them over into the carved surface of a mask.

 

I trace not to fix, but to expand.
Beyond Japan, beyond the human face—toward the earth, and into the cosmos.
To trace invisible energy into visible form—
this is what NIGAO-MEN means to me.