Kazuki Takamatsu’s intricate fusion of traditional and modern techniques is as beautiful as it is visionary. His book, Hello Here I Am provides an opportunity to own a unique collection of some of the most innovative and eye-catching artwork in recent history. Combining digital CG methods with analogue materials, Takamatsu writes that he “trying to document the emotions…and the congruence of humans and digital society.”

His hand-painted monochrome images are created using a mixture of watercolour and opaque white pigments in gouache. “White and black metaphorically express the ambiguity of positive and negative, good and evil, race and religion,” Takamatsu writes. After meticulously painting multiple gouache layers, Takamatsu colours each individual pixel of the object a different shade of grey, resulting in an astonishing sense of depth and surrealism. “His hologram-like, female characters look digitized,” Hi-Fructose writes, “though they’re executed entirely by hand.” This extreme attention to detail allows the viewer to experience Takamatsu’s fantastical depictions of Japanese women in an immersive presentation.

“This fairy tale is not like the others. Dark and violent stories where floating melancholic childish figures are either in despair or in possession of lethal killing machines. Little melancholic lolitas posing with innocence create an atmospheric, mystic world” – Yatzer

“Kazuki’s beautiful…paintings read like misty x-rays of anime fantasies” where “graphic spiritual essences leap off their surfaces” – Juxtapoz