Born and raised in Niigata, Japan (now based in Maine) Ryosuke Kumakura’s conceptual painting practice examines the ways we organize our surroundings and lives. Each intimate work is an observational meditation on the essencethe essence within everyday objects and the patina of daily. Through his acute attention to an object’s textural, tactile quality, Kumakura teases and blurs the boundaries between object and canvas as well as painting and viewer. Each work he creates is rendered with a tender precision capturing the stains on the t-shirt of a past lover, the hole in the sole of a worn sock, or the frayed edge on a bathroom towel. These imperfections gesture towards the true spirit of a thing, not only holding the existence of those who have used and loved the objects, but also giving the painting an essence in and of itself.