NEO NOBORIGOI

The nishikigoi (koi), a "living jewel" born of selective breeding in Japan, descends originally from carp on the Asian continent. The pattern of a motif originating on the continent, developed in Japan into its own culture, and then beloved across the world, is a recurring feature of Japanese culture — as seen also in the manga "Dragon Ball". For Koga, who aims to convey the core of Japanese culture embodied in "prayer" to the world, the koi is very much a mirror image of himself. The new "Ascending Koi" series is also inspired by the legend that a koi becomes a dragon upon climbing a waterfall. Through this work, Koga turns his attention not to the completed dragon, but to the struggle of the koi in the process of becoming one — embodying the Japanese aesthetic sensibility that favors the beauty of imperfection. In this sense, the koi is both a good-luck symbol and an emblem of wabi-sabi, making it a pivotal motif where the axes of expression Koga has built over time intersect.