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 I first started using 3D computer graphics seriously when I was at grad school back in 1996. Way before that, I used to create two-dimensional art when I was a junior high school student. At the time, my computer was only capable of rendering eight colors at most and the pixels were really big. In those days there were neither CDs or floppy discs, and it took several minutes to save pictures onto audio tapes. It' s hard to believe in retrospect, but I remember that I enjoyed doing that work.
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| I stayed away from computers as an undergrad, but when I went to study art at Ohio State University grad school, there was a Japanese lecturer at the computer graphics lab next to the building that housed my studio, so I got into computer graphics. |
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 There are few opportunities for students in Alaska to come into contact with artwork by people from other schools, so I tell my students to enter their work in contests because it' s hard to judge your own level or learn from the work of others. However, since many students were either lacking in commitment to some degree, or were disappointed because they did not win a prize, I started entering a selection of my own work as a lecturer to encourage my students to enter their own works. I think that entering the DCA is great, since its accessible even to people living in isolated areas or even those who find it difficult physically and financially to place their works in frames and transport them.
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| It took ages to capture the translucency of glass. I rendered layer after layer of images utilizing a variety of different variables and techniques, since images only created based on ray tracing algorithm wouldn' t be convincing. In addition to that, I also layered the colored photographs and hand-rendered images in order to make the tones more complex. As a result, if you look really closely you can see white birches, screen doors, icicles, and snow reflected in some of the objects. If you include the more detailed objects, some of them are composed of 20 or more layers. |
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 When I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, I was surprised at the predominance of landscape in the Alaskan art scene. At first I couldn' t understand why it should still be so prevalent these days, but as I lived here I began to understand. If you drive for just 15 minutes, you find yourself right in the middle of the great outdoors. In this environment, human psychology and things connected with life in the city begin to pale in significance. I' ve become more sensitive with the color of the sky every day and the changes in the scenery around me. I' ve also started to produce more work connected to animals and nature.
I was also puzzled by the widespread use of pastel colors, such as pink, light purple and sky blue, in Alaskan paintings. Since the sun always shines at a low angle, during winter in particular, when it isn' t cloudy, the sky is pink or orange, bathing the landscape in a pale light. Summer -with its “white nights”- are fun too, but I like the scenery in winter best of all.
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| When I started creating these images the holiday season, which in the US runs from Thanksgiving in November until New Year' s Day, was just getting underway. Supermarkets and other stores had started playing Christmas music and displaying tableware used for parties, gifts, Christmas decorations and so on. I was getting into the festive spirit too. That' s what made me chose the theme. The glasses were created from a combination of newly conceived shapes and ones that I thought of before I started studying computer graphics, when I was working in glass, which I felt might be interesting if they could be made and put into motion. |
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 At home, I created them on a small PC that I assembled with the help of a friend of mine. It' s a little embarrassing to talk about it, but it runs on an old, cheap graphics card and 512MB of RAM. Sometimes I even surprise myself that I' m capable of doing 3D and image processing work on it. I intend to upgrade it with the cash prize I received from this year' s DCA.
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| A story about me winning the DCA appeared in the local newspaper in Fairbanks while I was away attending the award ceremony in Japan, and when I got back everyone congratulated me. I have no idea when I was in the newspaper, so I was a little surprised. Quite a number of people have expressed an interest in buying my works, which has made me happy and encouraged me keep it up. |
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 I feel that the work for which I received the DCA prize skillfully combined everything that I' ve done up till now in various different forms. My ideas, which frequently pop into my head, originally derive from all sorts of different experiences and reflections on the past. I continually seek to absorb new influences, though, because if I get too attached to images from the past I won' t be able to make any new breakthroughs. At the moment I live next to the airport and often take pictures of the planes there, so it' s probably only a matter of time before I come up with something based on that.
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| Computer graphics and digital photography have steadily become more accessible, and are now an approach which can be enjoyed a wide range of people regardless of age or culture. Even if someone isn' t very good at art, math or programming, they can create great works depending on their approach. Yet they are media which also enables people skilled in those areas to make use of them in creating unique works of art. Computer graphics allow anybody to produce interesting artwork based on their own background and personality. As such, I hope that people will make good use of this media to achieve their potential. |
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![the 12th DCA2006 Grand Prize [parties]](images/p_sakuhin.jpg)
