Ever since childhood, Kimura has naturally gravitated towards drawing. There was no special training or conscious effort involved; he simply drew because he loved it. This is the origin of Kimura's creative work.
The drawings he created from a child's perspective are still displayed in his parents' home today. He could never draw the same things again. However, now he has expressions that emerge from his own sensibilities, shaped by the various things he has encountered throughout his life. He draws what he loves, when he loves, and that makes it something that only Kimura can create at that moment.
All the paintings displayed on the walls of the store, which was originally an art gallery, are drawn with a single black pen. Their monochrome presence contains a blank space that allows viewers to interpret them according to their own sensibilities. This blank space is Kimura's own way of enjoying art, and it naturally overlaps with the freedom of mù_ clothing.
-Please tell us how you came to release your art pieces.
Kimura: The current store used to be a gallery. I wanted to leverage the history of the space, so I intentionally left the existing holes in the walls and the lines for hanging frames as they were.
Initially, I just displayed design sketches, doodles, and illustrations I’d drawn on copy paper. But then I started getting requests from international customers and young couples who saw them, saying, "I want to meet the artist" and "I want to buy this painting."
If there are people interested in my creative work beyond clothes, I wanted to properly deliver what I drew, and that's what prompted me to start drawing seriously.
-Have you always enjoyed drawing?
Kimura: I've loved it ever since kindergarten. In elementary school, I even received an award from the Governor of Osaka Prefecture.
While I haven't had any formal art training, I believe that being self-taught allows me to draw freely without being constrained by conventional theories. Drawing is the origin of my creative work, and if I didn't love drawing, I might not be doing my current job.
-What is your reason for insisting on drawing by hand?
Kimura: Even my designs start with sketches, and the act of drawing by hand is very important to my creative process.
With digital tools, what I imagine in my mind can be processed too cleanly through the software, and I feel that subtle nuances get lost. I feel that with hand-drawing, the transmission from brain to hand is more direct. For example, when I want to express softness or texture in a clothing design, the emotions I put into each line feel like they come out more directly with hand-drawing.
-Are there any artists who have influenced you?
Kimura: I really like Jamie Reid; I even own a serialized piece of his work. He's known for his artwork for the Sex Pistols, and I've always resonated with the cynicism, jokes, and anti-establishment expressions found in the punk spirit of the 1970s. Rather than simply beautiful and correct things, I like a worldview that has a twist somewhere, or that makes something seemingly grotesque look cool.
I think having been exposed to such things is one of the factors that has shaped my current sensibilities.
-What do you keep in mind when creating your works?
Kimura: For exhibitions, I make an effort to ensure that the works don't appear to have been drawn by a single person. There are realistic touches as well as anime-style elements, and I want to create a diversity that resembles a group exhibition where each piece was drawn by a different personality. However, since everything comes from my own mind at that time, they surprisingly connect into a single whole when gathered together.
Drawing what I want to draw is the most fundamental principle; if ulterior motives get involved, the outcome will be different from what I truly want to convey. It's essentially the same feeling as doodling on my sneakers.
-What is your reason for sticking to black and white pens?
Kimura: The main reason is that I want viewers to imagine freely.
It's the same idea as leaving blank space in clothing design; if you add color, the viewer's imagination is guided in that direction. By keeping it monochrome, I hope that each viewer can imagine their favorite colors and perceive it with a personal feeling.
When I look at art myself, I first imagine it before reading the explanation, and then I research the background to check my understanding. So, I want the art I create to be perceived in a similar way.
-What is the difference between creating clothes and creating art?
Kimura: When making clothes, there are certain constraints, such as comfort, that come from the fixed structure of the human body. Art, however, has no such limitations. Even if a banana has eyes, no one would find it inconvenient; there's complete freedom.
Rather than drawing with ulterior motives, I want to enjoy myself and share the strange and odd things in my head. I'd be happy if art could convey that this is the kind of person who makes clothes.