Toru Kamei was born in Tokyo in 1976. He graduated from the Nihon University College of Art with a degree in fine arts and has exhibited his works at the Fukushima Biennale (2008) and the 5th Busan Biennale (2010) as well as at several distinguished galleries in Japan including Gallery Naruyama and Gallery Gyokuei.

Kamei’ s works are based on the traditional model of still life painting established in medieval Europe referred to in art history terms as vanitas that represent “allegories of the emptiness of earthly life” . Vanitas paintings feature skulls that serve as a metaphor for the certainty of death, clocks that signify a limited amount of time, and rotting fruits placed within a variety of still lifes that represent affluence and luxury. They are commonly interpreted as having the intended effect of evoking within the viewer the transience of vanity; by implanting a unique world of fantasy into this style of painting, Kamei realizes a new modality of painting that surpasses historical constraints.

For instance, Omowaku, a therianthropic self-portrait that makes an attempt at self-mythologization, is a piece that powerfully expresses the young, lustrous nature of life against the backdrop of mythology. The symbolic piece Tsubaki, depicting a woman casting a vacant gaze surrounded by camellias, succeeds at evoking within viewers many different narratives in regards to the flower petals that scatter ephemerally from her hands. In a new piece, Kachū-tachi, Kamei paints a skeleton lying amongst flowers with eyeballs and fluttering butterflies, pregnant with a mysterious view on life.

In regards to his works, Kamei says, “I borrow figures that have form in an effort to privately and symbolically express the world of the subconscious, the formless sensations, feelings, and emotions that constitute the state of the mind and spirit,” and comments that his works are “an escape from reality, an accumulated disconnection to reality.” In Kamei’ s works, born out of a sincere vision, we can certainly empathize with a sense of beauty that goes beyond time and tradition.

亀井徹於1976年出生於東京。他畢業於日本大學藝術學院，獲得美術學位，並在福島雙年展（2008年）和第五屆釜山雙年展（2010年）以及日本的幾家知名畫廊展出他的作品，包括成山畫廊和玉桂畫廊。

亀井的作品基於中世紀歐洲建立的靜物畫傳統模型，在藝術史上被稱為「虛無主義」，代表著「世俗生活空虛的寓言」。虛無主義畫作中常出現骷髏，作為死亡確定性的隱喻，時鐘象徵著有限的時間，以及放置在各種靜物中的腐爛水果，代表著富裕和奢華。它們通常被解讀為旨在喚起觀眾對虛榮短暫性的思考；透過將獨特的幻想世界植入這種畫風中，亀井實現了一種超越歷史限制的新繪畫方式。

例如，作品《思惟》，一幅試圖自我神話化的獸人自畫像，強烈表達了生命年輕而光輝的本質，背景則是神話。而藝術家的代表性作品《椿》，則描繪了一位女性在山茶花環繞中投射出空洞的目光，成功地在觀眾心中喚起了關於從她手中散落的花瓣的多種敘事。在新作《花中屍》中，亀井描繪了一具躺在花叢中的骷髏，眼球和翩翩起舞的蝴蝶孕育著對生命的神秘視角。

關於他的作品，亀井表示：「我借用有形的形象，嘗試私密而象徵性地表達潛意識的世界，那些構成心靈和精神狀態的無形感受、情感和情緒。」並評論他的作品是「對現實的逃避，和累積對現實的孤立。」在亀井的作品中，源自於真誠的視野，我們無疑能夠感受到超越時間與傳統的美感。