The destination is always beyond expression

My self - made camper van is my beloved car.

I'm Juane*. Hello.

"Are you always traveling somewhere?"

Whenever people say that to me, I struggle to answer.

Fukuoka, Yokohama.

Going back and forth between these two bases, stopping by Jun's base in Tokyo... this life of movement is my everyday normalcy, and I don't feel like I'm traveling.

But when I drive my car to places other than those...

That might be a trip.

If I'm drawing goldfish, I go to goldfish production areas all over the country.

If I'm asked to draw a dragon, I go on a journey to visit the Dragon God.

If I get an image of using gold leaf, I visit a workshop that protects the tradition.

Such car trips are a bit different from sightseeing for me...

It is pure fieldwork to increase the purity of the work.

Staring at the movement of the craftsman's fingertips, feeling the cool air of the forest where the Dragon God resides on my skin...

By visiting the site and directly receiving the "breathing" of the place, the images that were sleeping inside me well up, and my feelings deepen.

And when I encounter a moment where my heart trembles helplessly at my destination, I impulsively pick up my smartphone.

"I found an amazing place right now!"

A message typed from inside my self - made camper van in a quiet night parking lot.

The movement of the craftsman's hand I saw today, the humidity of the forest where I felt the presence of the Dragon God.

Shared via photos and videos.

"Can't we use that for that part of the next work?"

With that one word from Jun, the vague image swirling inside me clicks and turns into the "seed of the work".

It is the moment when the scenery I was seeing alone turns into a "blueprint of expression" shared by two people.

The time spent driving alone, humming a tune.

That is an important preparation time to sublimate the "half" that is me into the "one" expression that is Jun * Juane.

Bringing back a piece of inspiration obtained at the destination, kneading it together, worrying about it, and bumping it against each other.

I believe that works that have finally taken shape through such a muddy process dwell with a "temperature of life" that can never be reached just by thinking at a desk.

Arriving at the destination is not the goal, but what to bring back from there and how to turn it into expression.

My journey always continues beyond that expression.

Juane *