The artworks of Epäro are in line with her artist name. The name, Epäro, is an acronym of “Eat, Paint, and Love.” She believes in the cruel and beautiful providence of nature, in which one life dies to fuel the next. This circulatory system attracts Epäro’s interest in that this system is mediated by the “act of eating.” This is due to the belief that all life has a finite lifespan. She recognized food as a subject matter capable of containing all the stories of life, despite the variety of viewpoints on it.

Last year, you held a solo exhibition titled Dear My Cake.
I wonder about your thoughts as an artist.

Immediately after a solo exhibition in October 2023, I prepared for five months for another exhibition, Dear My Cake. The size of this exhibition was considerably larger, with two exhibition spaces. This short period of preparation forced both body and mind to fully concentrate. In retrospect, the dominant feeling in my 30s was that art production is challenging. I used to think: Why am I doing this hard work in my life? However, paradoxically, I greatly enjoyed the time I was completely immersed in painting.

Is there any message you intended to deliver to people through the Dear My Cake exhibition?

It may be inappropriate to predetermine any message for a pure painting. Nevertheless, this work, if any, starts with a fairly universal story. In my work, all the cakes are personified to depict human traits. These days, we urgently need to understand that, in the absence of light and brisk life among humans, it is inevitable to experience hurt. I think I was eager to deliver such emotion. I intended to express inevitable wounds and sadness in the inner being of those cakes that are colorful, sweet, and pretty. Just as the process of painting functioned as healing for me, I hope that healing and warmheartedness reach those who see my paintings; I mean mutual understanding, thoughtfulness, and generosity.

I guess you had the most memorable or aha moments while you had been preparing for this solo exhibition.

I once again realized that painting is an entertaining job. This part matters the most. Despite its trivial nature, I managed to take advantage of a chance to reflect on the food known as cake. While preparing for the exhibition, I looked up the identity and definition of cakes. Cake, an English word, means “making something with powder.” I came up with the idea that cakes start and end with powder, symbolizing the ultimate collapse of everything. I have exhibited several works under the theme of cake, reflecting the idea that this world is ultimately in the process of transforming into dust.

Many of your artworks are bleary and blurry. I am curious about what you strived to express through this technique.

The name for this bleary and blurry painting technique remains unknown. Thus, I named this technique "swipe out.” I took inspiration from the "swipe to unlock iPhone" concept. First, I scrupulously paint on the canvas with pastel powder vulnerable to smudging. Then, I use gesso and water to sweep the canvas with a large brush. I did not develop this technique; many artists have already employed it in slightly different ways. I believe that a bleary and blurry scene is the essence of phenomenon because objects are neither stationary nor lucid.

Please share the work you are most attached to from the solo exhibition and explain why.

It is hard to choose just one. I feel more attached to Birth, a painting on a small cake related to birth. This work served as a catalyst for me to begin creating paintings centered around the theme of cakes. The cake in the meaning of celebrating a birthday allowed me to ponder the fundamental meaning of birth. A question arose: Would the birth of a human be worthy of celebration? I intended to represent the rear side of birth with a smudging surface by applying the "swipe out" technique in an anti-decorative, anti-celebrating, and anti-commemorative way.

I wonder if you ever hear any feedback on the artworks displayed in the exhibition.

Paintings are not sold at art museum exhibitions. Apart from that, I receive positive feedback on my paintings. First and foremost, any offer to purchase paintings is the most positive reaction to my paintings. I recognize the positive response to my painting if there is more than one offer for one painting. Of course, it may not be an absolute standard. Moreover, I hear the opinions of critics. A common feedback that I have thus far heard is that “the brilliant colors of his paintings first attract me to their front, while I feel inexplicable loneliness or sadness when I stand in front of the paintings.” I tend to express a certain ambivalence—colorfulness and sadness—in my paintings, and one critic defined this pattern as “paroxysmal beauty.”

Do you have any advice for aspiring painters?

Art is a journey to seek authentic freedom. However, this process exhausts artists, and their reward may be far from just compensation. Nevertheless, the artworks of artists captivate us as we uncover freshness in their continuous evolution. I would like to encourage aspiring artists to look into their hearts first. This is because answers to nearly all questions are found in their inner being over whether they should become an artist or what they should do.

Finally, how would like to continue shaping the artistic world of Epäro?

The upcoming exhibition features a painting titled Plum. I worked on this painting while recalling the plum tree my grandfather planted in his yard during my childhood. The plums were so delicious, probably because my grandfather used leftover meat as fertilizer to create such flavor. Despite immediate shock at that time, I have realized that the cycle of obtaining plums is connected to circulation, fuels, and life. You can think of the Dear My Cake exhibition as an artistic extension of Plum. I plan to create certain depth as I mimic the flexible and free flow of water. Ultimately, I am eager to produce artwork that possesses warmth and heals others.