MITSU HARAGUCHI

Ever since humans left their caves, houses have provided comfort and protection from the harsh environment. In this regard, every house has the same function anywhere in the world. However, their appearances significantly vary even in the same country. That is because houses reflect not only the way people adapt the environment, but also the culture and history of the people dwelling within.

When I paint a house, I indirectly paint the family who lives or lived there. When I paint a commercial building, I paint the workers who work or worked there. Although you may call it a landscape painting, I do not feel like I am painting a landscape. What I paint are the portraits of people in the form of architecture. I call it “houses-scape” painting.

In this website, I introduce my “houses-scape” paintings in places where I am personally attached, including my home town Ome (Japan), Poughkeepsie (NY), which changed my artistic life and Aix-en-Provence (France) where I spent one summer in a residency program. Hope you will enjoy them.