Specular: Hino Korehiko’s Shimmering Portraits Reflect Reality and Illusion
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Japanese artist Hino Korehiko’s solo exhibition "Specular" at Geumsan Gallery in Myeong-dong, Seoul (on view until July 8), investigates human existence through mirror reflections and the glossy sheen of pupils. Using reflected images and highlights on eyes as central motifs, Hino strips away narrative cues like specific emotions, age, or gender to focus on presence itself. The paintings depict figures that are recognizably human yet hover between familiarity and strangeness due to glass-bead–like pupils, frozen expressions, and layered reflections—prompting questions about human versus doll, life versus non-life, and reality versus illusion. Recurring motifs such as mirrors, flowers, and taxidermy disturb the boundary between the real and the illusory. Born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1976 and educated at the University of Tsukuba, Hino won the prestigious VOCA Prize in 2005 and has exhibited at major institutions including the Ueno Royal Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
