I used a gel ink ballpoint pen to draw my own graphics onto white, matchbox-sized containers. It was just for killing time at first, but creating these boxes gradually developed into my sole “purpose of the day,” and before I knew it, I had used up all the boxes that I had. Looking at the painted boxes all lined up in one place was exhilarating in its own way, but what began to stand out first and foremost was the utter meaninglessness of these boxes. However at the same time, I also felt that there was something in them that I couldn’t put into words. It appears to me that my entire work to date has been inspired by the desire to connect to that “something,” but I still don’t know whether it is something that is within my reach. Letters and graphics are supposed to express things, but sometimes they also obscure things.
