“From the onset, whenever I had to explain the meaning of Shin-On, I have always said that it is a sort of cry from the heart, an expression in tune with the self.”

SHIN – ON
(the sounds)

Matsuyama’s work is inspired by the theories of Kandinsky as “color is an inner sound” but also reveals a deep connection with the expressive modalities of oriental culture. Starting from the philosophical intuition, Matsuyama paints the Shin-on, or the sound of things, the music that originates and express them.

The Japanese’s artist’s premise is that everything is Shin-on, sound, and his painting becomes the visible materialization of this idea. The theme of the Shin-on in Matsuyama is of this nature. It establishes a subtle relationship between the visual and the acoustic in which one refers to and inevitably suggests the other. The surfaces of his pictures, uneven and rich in materials, can be seen as a score to be read inwardly. The echo of his paintings reminds us of our internal and individual resonance.

In their silence, Matsuyama’s pictures present themselves as scores to be read, to be brought to life. Thus they engage us and force the gaze to activate them with all our senses. The gaze invites the mind to discover them, to wander through them like a landscape.