Minami has been familiar with drawing since childhood due to the influence of his father, a picture book author, but paints did not suit him and he only drew monochrome portraits with pencils etc. Then, when he was about 20 years old and attending the Setsu Mode Seminar, he discovered crayons, which he still uses today.

Minami says that being able to paint using her physical senses, without any tools between her body and the painting, has freed her from the discomfort she had felt in life until then.

"School in particular stripped away individuality, and I felt like I was being made to fit in with a standard. Things like 'normality' and 'common sense' bring order, but at the same time they take away freedom and make me feel suffocated. Drawing saved me from this suffocating feeling, and using crayons gave me a sense of freedom I had never experienced before."

While he was aware of the common sense and rules of living in society, he realized that by distancing himself from them to a certain extent, he could take control of his own life, and with the motivation of "shaking up people's common sense," he began creating art, picking up his crayons.

From there, he built his career as an illustrator creating illustrations for books and magazines, and recently has expanded his range of expression to include not only crayon works but also stencil and digital collage works.

Minami's works, colored with crayons and oil pastels, are light-hearted yet evocative of an indescribable sense of unease. Come to YUGEN Gallery FUKUOKA to experience Minami's world of expression and discover a new you.