Choryu Gima, an artist living in Okinawa, takes advantage of the advantage of setting up his atelier in the large Makishi Public Market, known as the ``Kitchen of Naha,'' and creates collage works using imported cardboard that arrives at the market from overseas. . Behind this is a deep love for American pop culture and a strong awareness of the environment. The culture that shaped you and the problems that surround you. Mr. Gima's art, which has found a way to express two elements that have always been stuck in his heart, has an unmistakable momentum. Now that his first solo exhibition titled "SOME POP" was held at "B GALLERY" and has ended with great success, we would like to hear once again how the collages that attracted the attention of many people were born. Saw.


``When I pasted a piece of cardboard onto a piece I was drawing with paint, everything connected inside me.''

 ━ Please tell us about your encounter with American pop culture, which is your roots.
GIMA: When I was 16 years old and attending an art high school, I came across a book called ``POP ART'' and was shocked. I remember well that Marilyn Monroe was on the cover and there was a large picture of the famous Campbell's Soup inside. For me, who lived in Okinawa, Campbell's soup was as much a part of my everyday life as miso soup. Moreover, at a time when I thought that drawing well was art, I did not understand that even the logos of companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi were considered art. But around my third year of high school, I started to think it was really cool.


━ You went to an art high school, so you've loved drawing since you were a child.
GIMA: Yes. I also think there was an admiration for and understanding of American culture. I grew up in Chinen Village, a village in Nanjo City surrounded by a large forest where there was nothing but nature. It was a remote place with a small population, but when I was a child, an uncle of my relative who lived behind our house would always watch movies on a laser disc. There were screenings held almost every weekend (lol), and I got to see movies like ``Back to the Future'' and ``Star Wars.'' Because it was a rural area and there was little information, American movies were very stimulating. I think it was also a latent opportunity for me to become interested in art.

 ━ What happened after you graduated from high school?
GIMA: I went to art school in Nagoya in 1995 and just experienced a big sneaker boom. Nike Air Maxes, vintage sneakers, and Air Jordans were very popular, so I used to go to thrift stores a lot. After graduating from university, I moved to Tokyo and started working part-time at a sneaker shop. There were a lot of people there who loved second-hand clothes, and they showed me around the shops in Koenji. I think that experience is also connected to the work.


━ Why did you return to Okinawa and start working as an artist?
GIMA: I had decided to return to Okinawa by the time I turned 30. Before that, I studied abroad in New York for a year and was able to see a lot of art. After returning to Okinawa, I started working as an illustrator. While I enjoyed drawing pictures for others, I began to search for a way to express myself more than ever before, which led me to cardboard.

The collage series was created in 2014, but since 2011 I have been selling works using cardboard along with illustrations made with acrylic paint. I learned that if you soak cardboard in water, each piece will peel off neatly, and when it dries, it becomes paper-like. Rather than just an idea, I wanted to commercialize it into notebooks and other products to help Asian countries that cannot produce their own paper. To that end, I launched a brand and traveled to Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia to introduce organizations and facilities for people with disabilities and go there to teach. We continue to purchase products made by them and sell them in Japan.


━ Helpful for environmental conservation and also connected to work. That's a great action.
GIMA: I collected all the scraps that came out when I cut the notebooks and kept only the clean ones. One day, I pasted scraps onto a piece of work I was drawing with paint, and within me I felt like everything was connected. So, when I decided to try making a proper collage, the first motif that came to mind was Campbell's Soup. Okinawa is home to a variety of cardboard boxes and canned goods from all over the world. There is a canned food there that led me to enter this world. I made it with a lot of force and something clicked. When I showed this different work to people, the reactions were positive. That's how it evolved into the collage I do today.

 ━ Is imported cardboard more suitable for your work? Do you feel there are limits to your expression with Japanese cardboard?
GIMA: It's not that it can't be made, but Japanese cardboard is often brown. But overseas products use a lot of colors, such as white, red, and yellow. Turning cardboard into paper is my life's work. Since I stock it separately by color, the range of collages I can create is expanded. It's a big advantage compared to doing it in other areas, and I don't think I would have thought of doing it if I didn't have an atelier in the Makishi Public Market, where cardboard boxes from overseas are gathered.

 — The main focus of your first solo exhibition, “SOME POP”, was sneakers.
GIMA: I myself love basketball, so I have a strong attachment to Nike's Air Jordan series, which is almost complete. I wanted to include at least the Air Jordan 18 that Michael Jordan wore during his playing days, but this solo exhibition will feature Jordan's return from his first retirement and his second three-peat (winning the NBA playoffs). I even made the Air Jordan 14 that I wore when I achieved my goal (3 years in a row). This process begins by drawing the sneakers over a period of two to three days. After that, I make a mold for each part and collage the actual colored cardboard onto it. It takes quite a few days to complete one model, but I'm working hard with the dream of one day having my work seen by Michael Jordan himself.

 ━ Is it because of your style that it looks like there are vertical lines?
GIMA: This expresses the atmosphere of the time when I was devoting myself to oil painting, and I intentionally left drippings in my paintings. So even though I call it a collage, it may have a similar feeling to drawing a picture. However, setting rules reduces the degree of freedom in a good way, and creates a sense of unity throughout. This leads to the individuality of the work. I want many people to realize that the vertical lines look like Gima.

 ━ What are your honest thoughts after the solo exhibition?
GIMA: Up until now, I had only exhibited in Okinawa and Kyushu, so I was honestly happy to be able to hold the exhibition at Shinjuku's B GALLERY. It was a great opportunity for us to be seen by many people, both domestically and internationally. I hope that many feedbacks will create a chemical reaction within themselves. I also want to consider exhibiting overseas.


━ Lastly, what is the cardboard that established your style?
GIMA: Ever since I was in high school, I've been interested in videos and books about how the earth gets polluted. Pouring acrylic paint into water also has a negative impact on the earth, and I've always felt conflicted about what I'm doing. When considering environmental issues, many people have negative feelings about cardboard, which is one of the problems of increasing waste. But I like the warmth of materials that have the traces of someone else's use, so I thought I could use them for something. If it ends up becoming an integral part of my work and I can contribute in some small way to reducing the amount of garbage, I would consider myself very lucky.