人很脆弱，碰撞就受傷。因此現代社會把分明的你我推開，把衝突與暴力推向歷史書與遙遠的螢幕。即使戰爭的傷痕隱隱作痛，來自日本的 Utanhole 知道推開他人的手仍渴望擁抱，現代人武裝自己只為了卸下武裝；你我之間的距離究竟有多遠？
We are fragile creatures; collision implies injury. Modern society keeps us apart, relegating conflict and violence to history books and distant screens. Yet, even as the wounds of war ache beneath the surface, Japanese artist Utanhole understands that the hands pushing others away still long to embrace. We armor ourselves only so we might someday disarm. Just how far apart have we become?
生於 2001 年福岡的 Utanhole，畢業於東京藝術大學油畫科，卻也以彩色鉛筆為主要媒介。他的作品在古典繪畫的構圖框架中，注入漫畫式的敘事與淡彩獨有的脆弱質感。線條精確卻保留著手繪的溫度，並以輕盈的柔和淡彩營造出疏離感。這種充滿不確定性的技法，呼應著他的核心主題：內在的衝突與關係的困境。
Born in Fukuoka in 1995 and a graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts, Utanhole also works in colored pencil despite his training in oil painting. His pieces inhabit classical compositional frameworks while injecting manga-style narratives and the singular fragility of soft pigments. His lines are precise yet retain a hand-drawn warmth; layered washes of color create a sense of profound alienation. This technique of uncertainty mirrors his central themes: internal conflict and the predicament of human connection.
Suicide Bomber
Acrylic gouache on paper on wood panel
728×1030mm
熙來攘往的涉谷路口前，畫中人平靜地掀起上衣，香煙在胸前排成炸藥。她以暴烈的脆弱向城市坦白，但路人的腳步與車馬的的流轉無動於衷。Utanhole 試圖描繪現代人的常態：隨時隨地準備崩潰，在炸毀他人前先炸毀自己———誰都可以是恐怖份子。
Before Shibuya’s teeming intersection, a figure calmly lifts her shirt. Cigarettes line her chest like sticks of dynamite. She confesses her violent fragility to the city, but passing feet and flowing traffic remain unmoved. Utanhole captures the modern condition: perpetually on the verge of collapse, ready to detonate ourselves before we can harm others—anyone could be a terrorist.
Woman with a Submachine Gun
Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas
73×91 cm
The City Burns, She Dreams
Gofun, acrylic gouache, and colored pencil on canvas
1120×1455mm
導彈穿雲，轟炸機掠空，戰火和暴力的陰魂久久地徘徊在他畫作的背景。窗外，遠處樓頂正湧起濃煙與火光，但前景中半裸的少女疲倦地托著腮 ，只是低頭沉思。Utanhole 擅長這種殘酷的平行敘事：災難在發生，生活卻仍在繼續。主角的身體語言暗示著某種習以為常的麻木，彷彿爆炸不過是城市日常的背景音；保持距離作為防御機制成為了現代生活的習俗。
Missiles pierce clouds and bombers sweep overhead; the ghosts of violence haunt his backgrounds relentlessly. Through a window, smoke and flames billow from a distant rooftop, yet in the foreground, a semi-nude girl rests her weary head on her hand, lost in thought. Utanhole excels at this cruel, parallel narrative: catastrophe unfolds while life continues. His subjects’ body language suggests a habituated numbness, as if explosions were merely urban white noise. Maintaining distance as a defense mechanism has become a modern ritual.
The Blueprint
Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas
45.4×53㎝
時間在 Utanhole 的作品中被懸置。爆炸處於「即將」發生，大廈「仍未」崩塌，導彈「尚在」途中。纏繞繃帶的兩人貼近，視線卻錯過，吻凝在空中。傷者既渴望觸碰又保持距離。這種永恆的「即將」構成了當代特有的焦慮。現代社會的壓抑並非轟鳴而至的創傷，而是無止境的等待和失重。身體永遠處於「即將」崩潰的狀態，但崩潰永遠不被允許。
Time is suspended in Utanhole’s works. Explosions are “about to” happen, towers have “not yet” collapsed, and missiles remain “still in flight.” Two bandaged figures lean close, but their gazes miss; a kiss hangs frozen in the air. These fragile bodies crave touch while maintaining distance. This eternal “about to” constitutes our contemporary anxiety. Modern repression isn’t a single trauma, but an endless waiting. Our bodies exist in a permanent state of imminent collapse—a collapse that is never permitted.
Perfect Salvation Initiation
Gofun, acrylic gouache, and colored pencil on canvas
1167×910mm
Freefall
Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas
261×162 cm
Utanhole 的畫並不絕望；所捕捉的正是這種矛盾的現實：即使在一個壓抑而疏離的時代，我們依然無法徹底熄滅對連結的渴望。那些纏繞繃帶的身體仍在靠近，即使視線錯過；那些半裸的軀體仍在坦白，即使無人注視。無論是等待爆炸還是等待擁抱，都基於共同的脆弱，懷着同一種渴求。他的作品或許在問：在歷史的陰影與現代的疏離之間，在暴力與愛的邊界上，我們是否還能相信，這種脆弱本身可否不是毀滅的引信，而是連接彼此的起點？
Utanhole’s paintings are not despairing; rather, they capture a contradictory reality: even in a repressive, alienated age, we cannot fully extinguish our hunger for connection. Those bandaged bodies still draw near, even as their eyes miss one another; those forms still confess, even as no one watches. Whether waiting for an explosion or an embrace, both stem from a shared fragility and a singular longing. Perhaps his work asks: between the shadows of history and modern estrangement, on the border of violence and love, can we believe that vulnerability itself might not be the explosive, but the starting point for connection?
圖片提供：Utanhole｜Courtesy of Utanhole