KINJO (b. 1990) was born in Tokyo and has roots in Okinawa. Working across painting, sculpture, and performance, he draws on American culture with deep ties to Japan, as well as the peripheral urban landscapes in which he was born and raised. Influenced by his father, who painted, KINJO became familiar with art from an early age. Vivid and sometimes menacing images—such as snakes, skulls, and knives painted on a skateboard his father gave him—along with U.S. military surplus goods sent by his grandparents in Okinawa and the colorful packaging of American sweets, became formative visual experiences that continue to inform his practice today. The recurring motif of “eyes glowing in the dark” emerged from a childhood fear of being watched by others. Through the repeated act of painting, erasing, and painting the eyes again, the intimidating outline of the gaze gradually becomes blurred, transforming into an ambiguous presence that can evoke different emotions depending on the viewer—anger, sadness, tenderness, and more. KINJO repeatedly paints and erases shared social and cultural symbols such as snakes, eyes, and cereal packaging. Through this process, their outlines are softened and obscured, transforming anonymous images into “personal presences” imbued with familiarity and intimacy. For KINJO, making art is also a means of organizing his own memories and inner conflicts, and a self-reflective act through which he explores his layered roots.