Kentaro Hiroki Japanese, b. 1976

Kentaro Hiroki (b. 1976, Osaka, Japan) currently resides and works in Bangkok, Thailand. Kentaro has been working on different projects for which he creates realistic copies of originals using pencil drawing. His work deals with the parameters of the value of objects, in the tradition of wabi-sabi, the traditional art of impermanence. His typical process begins with carefully looking at the condition of and around the original object and reproducing it through drawing, paying close attention to signs of the passage of time (e.g., mark, scratch, stain, damage). He then installs his pieces in specific manners to transform the space into a metaphysical room — with both his physical copies and the space they occupy making up a single conceptual piece. Each installation embodies the ironical through silence.