I draw from my past in Architecture to create installations and paintings. As a native of Tokyo I am inspired by its fashion scene and ultimately decided to use denim as the central medium in my work. 

Using rolls of vintage Japanese denim, I grace my canvas with freehand strokes before applying a folding and distressing process to create imagery that pays homage to the spirited style culture that first inspired me. There are no permanent images in my artwork. Similar imagery or materials may be found, but every project is completely unique. It’s just like water, in the sense that it can be used in many ways: for consumption, bathing, energy, spiritual and sexual means. There is always a subjective reason when specific imagery and mediums are chosen. I call this the key. The Imagery and materials of the key could be found in everything and anywhere. It could be any number of things that can influence our perception and needs. Abstract and reality: My personal feeling of the day, the size of my jeans, the material of my jacket, the color of the sky, the form of clouds, my favorite coffee, an amount of salad, why I need to eat, what I’m doing now, something I trust, or the smell of food, a huge Thanksgiving turkey, an earthquake in Japan, my pet cat, etc…        

When I know something is going to be worn out, it reminds me that nothing stands still. Every moment something is changing. Clothes slowly get worn out, food left out overnight becomes ripened, people get older, buildings systematically crumble and fall apart. Or it’s raining now but not tomorrow. Even though some may not see a change in something, others see a transformation. Diversity of imagery and medium creates the key, which in turn is changed by perception, space, structure, process, experience and time.

Hideki Takahashi was born in Tokyo, Japan. He currently lives and works in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.