Keisuke Matsuura’s long-running Jiba series – named after the Japanese word for “magnetic field” – encapsulates his sustained inquiry into how invisible forces generate and influence spatial experience. In No. 1 jiba repe-s (2021), magnets embedded at various points beneath the canvas attract iron turnings on the surface, producing protrusions and indentations on the surface. What appears at first glance to be a monochromatic, static plane is in fact a dynamic field, where tension and release are made visible as they impart fluctuation and rhythm to the geometric structure.
Matsuura employs geometric forms – lines, grids, circles, and squares – to establish structure, while deliberately allowing space for the unpredictable interventions of natural forces. Noting that perfect squares do not occur in nature, he treats these shapes as an example of humanity’s desire for order, while underscoring the paradox that humans themselves are inseparable from nature. The result is a unique tension in which precision and chance simultaneously emerge, as do stillness and resonance.