柳谷郁子（作家）個展会場にて

私は山本雅也さんのファンである。

この人のどこにこのような熱情のマグマが潜んでいるのかと不思議なほど、一見後退りしているかに謙虚な寡黙の人である。しかし乳棒を握り乳鉢に色を作って練っている時こそが至福の時という山本さんの目の輝きは、その謙虚、寡黙を打ち破って見事に雄弁である。　揺るぎない確かな主張を私たちに伝えてやまない。

そして私たちは彼の作品の前に立ちつくす。ひたすらな熱情と卓抜な技量をもって創出される、彼の言う「至福の時」によって練りあげられた明快な色の豊饒、色の構成の旋律は、分厚い静謐な平和に満ちて私たちを魅了し、いっそう幾層にも限りなく連なっていく果てしない世界＿＿＿は希望に満ちた朗らかな命の讃歌のようだ＿＿＿へと私たちを案内する。

「単純」こそが、実は複雑に絡み合い精緻きわまるこの世の世界、魂の世界＿＿＿を解き明かす鍵、核心であるとすれば、その抽出の魔力、或るいは遊びに憑りつかれた芸術家・人間の山本さんが、人と機械の共同作業である写真芸術にまた一つの入り口を求められるのも故あることに思える。

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The World of Yamamoto Masaya’s Soul

Yanagitani Ikuko (Writer)

I am a fan of Yamamoto Masaya’s.

Yamamoto appears on the surface to be modest and reticent, practically a recluse, making you wonder where the surging magma of his creative energies comes from. However, as you watch him mix up color in a mortar and pestle and lay it down, the gleam in his eyes at that ecstatic time eloquently decimates this modest and reticent impression. He is a man driven to convey his unyielding convictions to the viewer. And standing before these works, the viewer is brought to a dead standstill.

　The melodious compositions of lucid, fertile colors, brought forth during this “ecstatic time” through his ardent devotion and extraordinary skill, draw the viewer into a tranquil, abundant realm of peace, a world of wordless depths and endless layers – like a paean to life itself, full of serenity, brimming with hope.

If in fact simplicity is the answer, the key that unlocks the complexity and intricacy of this world, the world of the soul – then it is no surprise that Yamamoto, the artist and the man, long immersed in the magical work or play of unraveling this complexity, would be driven to seek another path in the art of photography, which could be called a collaboration between man and machine.

What is it that Yamamoto Masaya, the painter, has spent his life pursuing silently and unflaggingly, a gleam in his eye, a jar of paint at his elbow, or a camera in his hand? As for myself, I intend to stand transfixed before his work, and let it work its inimitable magic.

March 2014