17 july 2023, Wouter van den Eijkel
The studio of... Hidenori Mitsue
In his studio in Enkhuizen, Japanese artist Hidenori Mitsue makes paintings with references to the Old Masters. His Winter Landscape series, for example, are reminiscent of Avercamp’s famous winter landscapes. But that's not where Mitsue interests lie. His work revolves around the mysterious interplay between perception and interpretation. Recognition and context play a major role in this. “What we perceive with our eyes is not just about what we see.”
Where is your studio and what does it look like?
I am working in Enkhuizen, which is a small city in the upper part of the province of Noord-Holland. My studio is near the IJsselmeer and the building is nearly 400 years old.
What does a day in your studio look like?
After walking my dog in the morning, breakfast and coffee, my day gradually unfolds in my studio. There's not much I need to prepare before going to the studio, but I like to prepare mentally before I start painting. I try to prepare in my mind the process of the day, what I need or want to do. I do this by setting everything up the night before to make clear to myself what I'm going to do the next day. I try to prepare the right order in my mind for the next steps. I probably work in my studio for about three to five hours. That is my time limit for good concentration. But I spend more time just looking and thinking about my painting, just like other artists do.
Hidenori Mitsue, Still Life with Bouquet and Skull, 2016, Janknegt Gallery
Is the old city of Enkhuizen an inspiring environment for you? How did you end up there?
Before I lived in Enkhuizen, I lived in several cities in the Netherlands. I started my career in Utrecht, then lived in Blaricum for six years. I’ve now been in Enkhuizen for ten years. I found a house with a studio space in Enkhuizen when I was looking for a new studio. It was just a coincidence. And this question about ‘living in a historical place’ is a very common one, which I have been asked before. The answer is both yes and no. Historical surroundings offer ambience and historical discovery, which, of course, is unique and extraordinary. But you stop noticing all the history once you get used to it. Our senses and feelings are sometimes ambiguous or satisfactory, but mostly unpredictable. And this sense is also connected to the issue I am working on.
Many scenes you paint seem to refer to Avercamp and Fabritius. What specific aspects or techniques from the Old Masters do you find most captivating or inspiring?
Yes, I am influenced by those Old Masters. But it is not just their styles or technical and historical influence that are the reason I make reference to the images of Hendrick Avercamp, Carel Fabritius or Melchior d'Hondecoeter and so on. One of the main reasons is that I’m interested in how famous visual images or highly recognisable contexts can influence our visual understanding or perception of art. In other words, how we perceive and appreciate certain visual images based on art, especially paintings. I use my paintings to explore how our interpretation and perception interact with what we already know and what we don't yet know.
Hidenori Mitsue, Eos, 2017, Janknegt Gallery
Is this (the Old Masters) also what brought with you to the Netherlands initially?
Not exactly, but I'm sure it was one of my interests. I was more interested in how Dutch contemporary art is organised and the priorities in the way of thinking and approach to creating artwork by Dutch artists. Because that method is (was) very different from what I saw in Japan.
What kind of response or reactions do you typically receive from viewers of your work and are these useful to you on any level?
Reactions from viewers always bring me unique sights and discoveries. Many of these are influenced to some degree by my visual imagery and technical characters. And I understand this very well, because that's what I intentionally try to visualise in my work. But a particularly interesting response is that viewers see things very differently than I do. As they say, ‘100 people have 100 different opinions’. These differences are, of course, only natural, but I'm interested in how they arrive at these opinions or points of views. And these different points of views bring me to the question of how to read a single event in a different way.
Hidenori Mitsue, Stacked obelisk, 2020, Janknegt Gallery
In a text accompanying your previous solo exhibition at Janknegt, you address the topic of perception. Why is this important for you?
It is a matter of the relationship between interpretation and perception. And as a painter, it is a challenge and the question of ‘how do I process and integrate visual information in my painting?’ We take in visual information through our eyes. When we look at something, we instantly interpret it to make sense of what it is we are seeing. But our own experiences and knowledge influence this interpretation, as does our emotional state at that moment. Little by little, those influences change the course of our interpretation process. Visual information, combined with those influences, enters into this process and the result is our own personal perception. There is no such thing as a simple or direct relationship between seeing and understanding. What we perceive through our eyes is not only about what we actually see. What happens when we look at things is a complex process, which leads to diverse and intricate results. As a painter who creates such visual information, I would like to be aware of this and think about how I situate things between the visual information and what I create.
Do you have a dream project you would like to carry out one day?
I would like to have the opportunity to exhibit three of my Winter Landscape works side by side in a large space.
Hidenori Mitsue, Still life with flowers in a China porcelain vase and bird, 2017, Janknegt Gallery
Can you share any memorable anecdotes or experiences related to your artistic journey or the creation of specific pieces?
That’s a good question, but not an easy one to answer. For me, every single work and every single experience has such memories. Of course, they’re both big and small, bitter and sweet, but all experiences are what you might call ‘the best ones’, so it’s hard to choose. And maybe why I am not good at talking about memorable experiences is because I usually think about the present more than the past.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on two large works from my Winter Landscape series in my studio. They share the same character, but I would like to give them each their own identity.
Atelier Hidenori Mitsue
