HIGE CAURO

Hige grew up in Osaka, Japan and studied Psychology at Kyoto University.

A self-taught artist, he recently relocated to Barcelona for work and to improve his Spanish. He works full-time as an artist and graphic designer.

Cauro HigeCauro Hige PIN IT

Hige is a pseudonym he took as the start of his career: ‘I wanted to set myself free from my father, with whom I had a feud for decades. He was an artist, too.’

He’s vague about his age, telling me he was born ‘sometimes in the 1970s’.

He’s much more comfortable discussing his work and influences, telling GSN, ‘I have been painting for as long as I can remember. I began male figures as my main theme openly in my late teens

Hige’s father trained him in the art of wood block printing. Hige now paints in a variety of medium: commonly acrylic colors on plywood or digitally.

He says he began drawing men out of curiosity at first, but soon found his continued desire to represent them irresistible. His work has featured in exhibitions in the US and Japan.

In terms of influences, he name checks Vincent van Gogh and David Hockney.

‘Their works represent opposite elements at once: ‘being bold and sensitive’ or ‘being bright and lonely’. They always achieve harmony through a combination of opposite elements.’

‘I enjoy transforming the figure’: Cauro Hige

Hige draws primarily from photographs. His men, clothed or naked, are at ease in their masculinity. Some of the images are more explicit than those shown here.

‘I always refer to photographs while drawing. Reality usually surpasses imagination. But a copy of reality is not what I long for. I enjoy transforming the figure, sometimes completely into someone else.