Yukimasa Ida: Painting The Once-In-A-Lifetime
Yukimasa Ida’s practice sits at the intersection of tradition and immediacy, fusing oil painting’s tactile depth with the fleeting sensibility of the digital age. Rooted in the Zen principle ichi-go ichi-e, his work confronts impermanence and emotional memory, capturing moments as they dissolve. Instead of rendering likeness, Ida pursues the sensation of presence—an urgent, raw attempt to hold what inevitably slips away.
Through hand-applied pigment, sculptural strokes, and volatile color, Ida’s portraits and sculptures vibrate between formation and collapse. Faces emerge only to blur into abstraction, echoing the instability of memory and identity. This physicality—thick impasto, scraped surfaces, and fractured lines—mirrors the fragility of recollection and the shifting nature of self in a world defined by impermanence.
Across international exhibitions and cross-disciplinary projects, Ida’s works remain invitations rather than answers. They resist narrative in favor of emotional resonance, balancing control and spontaneity to explore life’s ambiguities. Whether on canvas or in bronze, he captures the echo of experience rather than the event itself, transforming transience into a powerful visual meditation on time, loss, and the immediacy of being alive.
Excerpted words written by Angela Li for AATONAU.
