Kotaro Machiyama

Born in 1980 in Chiba Japan, and have now made Tokyo, Japan his base.

Artist Statement
His work explores the act of seeing itself—stripped of depth, meaning, or narrative—through compositions built solely with color and form.

He draws inspiration from the way infants first perceive the world: before they acquire language, before they assign meaning to objects, they encounter a flat, vivid world of colors and shapes. This primal way of seeing, unfiltered by knowledge or experience, serves as the conceptual foundation of my paintings.

He intentionally avoids representational imagery and focuses on abstract relationships between forms and hues. In doing so, I seek to leave room for the viewer’s own memories, emotions, and imagination to surface. Rather than conveying a fixed message, each painting acts as a mirror—an open field where individual perception can unfold freely.

His practice is not about depicting what is seen, but rather reexamining the very act of seeing, and questioning the structures through which we visually understand the world.


PRIZE/SELECTED
2017
Rise Art Prize highly commended, United Kingdom.
J-WAVE TIME TABLE Grand prize, Japan
2011
Sapporo Pre-Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition 2011 International Art-Pr...

2011 Setu・Mode Seminar graduation.
2004 Tokyo Zokei University of Art and design subject dye major graduation

SOLO EXHIBITION

2023 “KITTENUITE” Arflex Tokyo, Tokyo
2020 "WAKARANAI MONO GA SUKI", arflex, Tokyo and Osaka
2015 sarasa design lab., Tokyo
2010 SETSU GALLERY,Tokyo and more..

GROUP EXHIBITION
2023 “ARTAMOY", SOMSOC GALLERY, Amoy China
"SOMSOC ART SHOW 23A/W", SOMSOC GALLERY, Tokyo
2022 "ASYAAF 2022”, Gallery LVS, Seo Korea
"Concerto” Arflex tamagawa, Arflex nagoya, Tokyo and Nagoya
2021 "#SHAPEOFTHENEW", CasildART, U.K., Online exhibition
2020 "Summer Tracks", Programa Taide, Spain, Online exhibition
2018 “OBSERVER BIAS” THE blank GALLERY ,Tokyo Japan
2014 ASYAAF 2014, Seoul, Korea
2011 The six time “Daikokuya contemporary art award” ,Tochigi
2009 “ART&PHOTO BOOK EXHIBITION”,Shinjyuku Ganka Garou,Tokyo
“The third time VISUAL ART AWARD BY INTERNATIONAL ART & DESIGN COLLEGE”
Winning exhibition,[Bikkuai] 6F citizens gallery,Hukusima and more..