It is beautiful because it is a by-product of what you love. What is Koroichi, the beloved work of the unique artist Shishi Okabe?

The colorful world depicted by the unique artist Yukihito Okabe. But did you know that these works are actually "by-products"?

He creates his works by applying crayon to create surfaces, scraping them off with a needle to erase the color, and then collecting the crayon shavings, which he uses as clay to play with.

In fact, the lump made from the collected shavings is the artist's real work. He calls it "Koroichi."

Let's take a peek at the artist, Shishi Okabe, at work.

The process of creating Koroichi

Collect the colorful shavings that are produced when painting with crayons.
Carefully knead and roll with your hands.
Gather all the scraps together and make one lump.

By repeating this process over and over again, Koroichi gradually grows bigger.

The materials for Koroichi are gathered with incredible concentration.

Sometimes I scrape the crayon off with a needle and collect the residue with the tip of the needle.
When you apply crayon to a canvas, you can collect the residue that comes off with the tip of the crayon or directly with your fingers.
They collect all the crayon residue from their fingers (that are stuck between their fingerprints). It's a very detailed job, but they must concentrate with incredible concentration to collect all the residue without leaving any behind.
They even use their fingers to collect the scraps that will become the material for making Koroichi directly from the tip of the crayon.

In this way, the materials for Koroichi are carefully collected in various ways, and the "resulting painting" is just a scrap of scraps, which Okabe himself has no interest in. Also, because it is a work born in the process of creating Koroichi, unlike ordinary art works, the work does not actually have a "top and bottom" (upper and lower).

And every day, various types of Koroichi are produced.

It's amazing how something so useless to him can be so beautiful and touching.

There is almost no intention to paint beautifully. These paintings are unintentionally created as a by-product. Okabe has no unnecessary intentions, and seems to simply follow his own emotions of "fun/comfortable" in the process of creating Koroichi. This is exactly the "uniqueness" that Okabe Shishi possesses. Perhaps it is the reason why he moves us.

The daily life of writer Okabe Shishi.

When the camera was pointed at Okabe,

"Say cheese! Smile!"

They have a routine of making a peace sign and shouting in a lively voice.
Even while filming the video, he showed off the finished Koroichi to the camera, saying, "Say cheese! Smile!"

When one of his works is used as a HERALBONY item, a photo of Okabe wearing the item and saying "Say cheese! Smile!" is sent to the HERALBONY staff via the welfare facility or his family. This kind of interaction with artists is one of our major driving forces.

Okabe Shishi's original drawings and Koroichi will be appearing at Roppongi Hills.

These original artworks, born as a "by-product of what he loves," and "Koroichi," his real work, will be available to see at the Roppongi POP UP STORE that opens today, December 8th (Friday)! This is a rare opportunity to see not only the original artworks, but also the real Koroichi up close.

Okabe's popular works have been sent to various people through past exhibitions. Another attractive feature is that his style changes depending on the time of painting. You can see the change in the way he paints his works compared to "Hoo! Hey!", which was painted in 2011.

A special movie has now been released, giving a glimpse into the production process. Don't miss the original drawings and the special movie that show Okabe Shishi's current state.

▼Tap the image to watch the video

Products featuring this artist's products

Yukihito Okabe

Currently enrolled at Kibo no Sono ( Mie Prefecture)

Born in 1994. Autistic. Currently enrolled at Matsusaka Challenged Place Kibo no Sono. He creates artworks by painting surfaces with crayon, then scraping them off with a needle to erase the color, collecting the resulting crayon shavings and playing with them like clay. Recently, he has expanded his production methods, adding poster colors to crayons on boards or canvases, coloring the surfaces, and then scraping them off with a needle. In fact, the lumps made from the collected shavings (which he calls "koroichi") are the real works for him, and the resulting paintings are just shavings that he is not interested in.

*This article is an online store member-only column that is open to the public for a limited time. In the future, we plan to distribute various artist introduction content exclusively to online store members. Please look forward to it.
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