About

Hiroshi Kobayashi investigates time, duration and the perception of depth in painting via digitised photographic images and 3D models. The invention of his own production equipment form an essential part in the creation of his visual forms.

Combining a cutting plotter with a pressurized air dispenser, needle, brush, oil paint and pigment marker, he marks out computerized paths for the works of dots and hatches onto canvas or paper. He has named this technique Patagraphy.

Hiroshi’s work is an expanded interplay between visual, computational, physical and material languages. The subjects vary from childhood toys to landscapes and geometric shapes. He recognises that those motives are all uniquely memorised and privatised through the time/duration. Through the development of a method that connects these languages, including interactive digital platforms and the traditional paint materials, it examines relationships between personal memories and mass products, and how unique and personal views and objects can be distributed via shared virtual spaces, and yet still maintain their unique qualities. He is interested in examining and representing the need to share the personal memory and intimacy in the period of social distancing.

Hiroshi Kobayashi holds a BFA from Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan) and an MFA from Brooklyn College, City University of New York (United States). Since completing his studies in 1995, he has exhibited in Taipei, Seoul, New York, Tokyo, Washington D.C., and Beijing. He has undertaken residencies in Canada, the United States, France, the Netherlands, China, and Korea.

In 2015, Kobayashi migrated to Perth and has since worked at Artsource’s OCH Studios, Fremantle Arts Centre, PICA, and TAFE residencies. He currently works from the Moores Building Art Space Artist Studios Program in Fremantle.

Recent solo exhibitions include Paper Mountain (2018), Goolugatup Heathcote Gallery (2019), Art Collective WA (2022), and Rockingham Arts Centre (2024). He was awarded First Prize at the Perth Royal Art Prize in 2024 and has been a finalist in the 2018 Albany Art Prize, the 2020 Joondalup Invitational Art Prize, and the Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.

Kobayashi received grant support from the Australia Council and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) for his Patagraph\Patagram project at PICA and TAFE residencies in 2021. He was also awarded The Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups grant from DLGSC for his Rhizograph\Rhizogram exhibition at Rockingham Arts Centre in 2024.