Takaya Mukai (b. 1991) is an artist from Osaka. He takes as his subject the essential self that has been unconsciously shaped by a repressed psyche, and explores the tension and psychological functions brought about by intimate and personal experiences such as loneliness and trauma.

In the series Solitary Garden and Room Night in order to confront head-on the issues he had long avoided facing, he deliberately severed all connections to information and the outside world and placed himself in an inescapable situation. What the works depict is a psychological struggle to kill the self that had been held captive.

​

Rather than exposing a narrative, he aims to appeal to the emotions and impressions surrounding the theme. Abstract themes and symbols emerge within the story, taking shape in the unfolding of the artist’s confession.