- Kurata's main focus throughout his work is in creating a scene of an allegorical mythologies using a
descriptive folk art method with motif of baseball figures and equipments.
"My continuous theme has always been taken from the elements of the game of baseball. For
instance, pitchers and batters, bats and balls. By placing a recognized symbol in a new format or
situation, we can create a whole new story. In my paintings, baseball players are not playing baseball,
but rather trying to fight against something by using their bats as a weapon. Just like the fact of our
life in the modern society have so many different ideas, morals, justice and perspectives; baseball
players do have a choice of where to swing their bats towards.
'What should we really fight against/for?'
to find my answer towards that question, I want to create a new crisscross between sports and visual expression,
particularly by presenting a new perspective through the concept of baseball."
He is a Japanese, currently working and living in Brooklyn, New York since 1999.
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