About

My work explores the theme of death, expressing its impermanence and decay. Rooted in personal experiences, these themes question the universality of death, inviting the viewer to reflect on its inevitability. I use a technique of water-stretching black paper and drawing with watercolor pencils, which gives rise to a brushstroke that seems to emerge from the darkness, serving as a metaphor for the fragility of existence.

My reflections are influenced by the concepts of memento mori and vanitas. These traditions bring awareness to the finitude of life and death, reminding us of our shared fate. Through this, I hope to offer a deeper opportunity to reflect on what it truly means to exist.

In contemporary society, rethinking the meaning of life and the essence of death remains a significant theme. I hope that my work provides viewers with the chance to reconsider the uncertainty of life and the meaning of their own existence.

私の作品は、死をテーマとし、無常と崩壊を表現しています。これらは個人的な経験に根ざしつつも、観賞者に死の普遍性を問いかけます。黒い紙に水張りをし、水彩色鉛筆で描く技法を用い、暗闇から浮かび上がるような筆致を生み出し、ものの儚さを象徴するメタファーとなります。

私の思索には、メメントモリやヴァニタスの影響があります。これらは、死と生命の有限性を意識させ、私たちが共有する死の運命を実感させるものです。それを通じて、「存在するとはどういうことか」を深く考えるきっかけになればと願っています。

現代社会において、生命の意味や死の本質を問い直すことは依然として重要なテーマです。私の作品が鑑賞者に人生の不確実性や自身の存在の意味を見つめ直す機会を提供できれば幸いです。

I was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1973 as the second child in my family. At ten months old, I was diagnosed with left ventricular septal defect, facing a critical threat to my life. I managed to undergo surgery successfully and survived, although at that time, it was estimated that I might only live until around the age of 24. Despite this prognosis, I seemed to have enjoyed drawing since I became aware.

When I was seven years old, my parents divorced, and I moved to Kagoshima with my father. This move was somewhat forceful. My older brother was taken in by our mother, resulting in the separation of siblings. I was raised by my grandmother in Kagoshima for a while.

Around the age of eight, I began to develop a strong interest in themes such as human death, corpses, and human cruelty. One of the catalysts for this was attending a “Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Photo Exhibition” event with my father. Although I do not recall the exact name of the event, I remember it as a vivid exhibition centered around photo panels of the Hiroshima atomic bomb damage. This event, held in Kagoshima, was not a large-scale exhibition, but it was sufficient to leave a lasting impression on my memory.

Additionally, during this time, I became interested in historical documents and photo collections that summarized modern and contemporary wars, conflicts, and incidents. I often spent time alone reading them in the school library. It was also around this period that I started to develop a deep interest in human cruelty, brutality, violence, and death, leading me to begin creating various drawings and comics that expressed these themes.

After graduating from high school, I moved to Tokyo for employment. However, within six months, I struggled with personal relationships and ended up moving to Osaka to live with my mother. There, I reunited with my mother and brother and began living with them.

Four years later, I started helping at the fish shop run by my stepfather, whom my mother had remarried. For a while, I stepped away from drawing. However, I couldn’t give up on making a living through art and consulted my stepfather. Although he had once aimed to become a poet, my stepfather took what I wanted to do seriously and offered to support me, allowing me to resume drawing.

The following year, my stepfather’s health rapidly deteriorated due to a stroke, resulting in hemiplegia. This led him into a severe state of depression, and ultimately, he took his own life. This event was extremely shocking for me, as my stepfather was the first person to seriously listen to my aspirations.

Shortly after, I left my mother and brother to live independently.

Around this time, I converted to Christianity. My interest in Christianity, the Bible, and religious art began from here. Although I am no longer a Christian, this experience sparked my interest in various religions and philosophies from around the world.

In 1999, when I was 26 years old, a turning point occurred. I received a commission from a Japanese death metal label with which I had been acquainted to create the cover art for the South American death metal band INTERNAL SUFFERING. This work became the catalyst for over two decades of ongoing commissions from numerous death metal bands worldwide. My interest in expressing themes centered around death deepened further, encompassing Christianity, mythology, human brutality, Memento Mori (Remember Death), and Danse Macabre (Dance of Death).

At the age of 28, I met a woman and got married.

At the end of June 2010, I underwent an emergency heart surgery to implant a temporary pacemaker due to complete atrioventricular block. My pulse was at 24, a very dangerous situation. During the surgery, I experienced three instances of cardiac arrest, putting me in a highly perilous state, but I survived. On July 8th, I underwent a second surgery to implant a permanent pacemaker and was successfully discharged on July 16th, resuming my activities thereafter. This near-death experience during surgery (NDE) was an extremely valuable and rare experience in my life. I believe this experience drove me to create images that look beyond the brink of death.

In August 2014, I lost my wife, who had been my long-time partner in creation, to cancer. This event is still difficult for me to put into words. However, it undoubtedly was a devastating and intense experience for me. Around this time, Buddhist terms such as 五蘊皆空 (All Five Aggregates are Empty) and 諸行無常 (All Things are Impermanent) began to take a central place in my spirit and thoughts.

In October 2014, I moved my base to Gifu and began focusing more intensely on fine art production.

I believe that my current creations are deeply supported by personal experiences that have fundamentally shaken my views on life and death. My numerous experiences have greatly propelled my curiosity to express the liminal spaces between life and death and impermanence through my works.

My artistic technique involves drawing with white pencils on black paper affixed to wooden panels, symbolizing the emergence of light from darkness. Additionally, it reflects the sense of unity with the universe I felt during my near-death experience, serving not only as a creative process but also as a projection of my profound inner world.

Profile

Toshihiro Egawa began his career in 1999 as an illustrator for death metal bands, collaborating with clients around the globe. His time in the metal scene deepened his interest in themes of life, death, and impermanence, leading him to later transition into fine art.

Egawa’s work is profoundly rooted in personal experiences that have shaken his views on life and death. Surviving multiple instances of cardiac arrest and the loss of his wife to cancer significantly influenced his exploration of the liminal spaces between life and death, as well as the concept of impermanence.

His current artistic technique involves using only white pencil on black paper mounted on wooden panels, a process that symbolizes finding light within darkness. It also reflects a sense of cosmic unity felt during near-death experiences, transcending mere artistic creation to become a projection of his inner world.

While drawing inspiration from religious imagery and the stillness evoked by skulls, Egawa uses these symbols to address universal questions related to human existence. His work offers viewers an opportunity to quietly reconsider the fragility of life and the meaning of their own existence.

江川敏弘は、1999年にデスメタルバンドのイラストレーターとしてキャリアをスタートし、世界中のクライアントと仕事を重ねてきました。メタルシーンでの活動を通じて、生と死、そして無常のテーマへの強い関心を深め、その後、ファインアートへと転身します。

江川のアートは、人生観や死生観を根底から揺るがした個人的な経験に深く支えられています。幾度にもわたる心停止からの生還や、妻を癌で失った経験は、生と死のはざまや無常を作品で表現しようという探究心を大きく後押ししました。

彼の現在の制作技法は、木製パネルに水張りした黒い紙に白鉛筆のみで描くもので、暗闇から光を見出すことを象徴しています。また、臨死体験の中で感じた宇宙との一体感を反映した表現でもあり、それは単なる創作にとどまらず、深い内面世界の投影にもなっています。

江川の作品は、宗教的な図像や頭蓋骨などがもたらす静謐さに着想を得ながらも、それらの象徴性を用い人間の存在に関わる普遍的な問いを描き出しています。鑑賞者に対しては、人生の儚さや自らの存在意義を静かに見つめ直す機会を提供したいと考えていま