Gen Hikage : 30 years of frog's eye By Segi Shinichi
　This brings us to the point where a painter was born. The path leading up to this point was, I think, quite outstanding. Particularly impressive was a comment on your graduation thesis by philosophy professor Yukiari Segawa (also a social critic under the pen name of Teiryo Fukuda), who called your thesis "the most enjoyable thesis I have ever read during my teaching career because it depends on sense yet uses logic to explain that sense." Given the fact that you made the professor say "enjoyable" instead of "excellent," I know right away that you are not a run-of-the-mill person. 
　Bringing this extended prolong to a close, let me talk briefly about the broad horizon you have developed in America, based in Brooklyn now for almost twenty years. Since your years in America have been so abundantly documented, it will suffice for me to make a few brief comments about your work. 
 First of all, one notices the almost total employment of the "frog's-eye" point of view, combined with very fine weather extending above, or an indoor room reflecting it, and clean, lucid air regardless of whether it is day or night. There is nothing impure, however acute the angle of the viewpoint might be, and yet anything intended to expose malignancies cannot be found. I think these qualities are completely exceptional.
　It is already well known that your images are produced with the use of the most advanced photographic techniques. Yet this technique is integrated seamlessly into a similarly sophisticated technique of painting. Through this marriage of techniques your work arrives at true accomplishment. 
  　At first your work appears simply to be something added to photographic-like images. This mistake is easy to make but the truth is far different. Though it is difficult to articulate precisely, if I may speak without fear of being misunderstood then I would describe what makes your work into paintings as "matiére" in the true sense of the word. In this usage, the word "matiére" need not remind us of Gogh or Fauvism. 
　In view of this point, I can clearly understand how your having applied yourself to various kinds of artisanal work before undertaking the high art of painting was, in fact, a significant benefit to your artistic development. Adding the "enjoyable philosophy" of your university days into this formative mix, we can begin to see the diverse influences that have created the Gen Hikage we know today. 
(Art Critics)