Flying Elephants

Hideki Kimura—widely known as “Ki-yan”—began his creative journey in the world of rock and roll. A senior to the legendary musician Kenji Sawada, he produced major rock festivals before making a remarkable career shift at the age of sixty, devoting himself entirely to painting.
My introduction to Ki-yan came in an unexpected way. During a dinner with the Mayor of Kyoto, I mentioned, “The greatest discovery I’ve made in Kyoto recently is an artist named Ki-yan.” The mayor immediately exclaimed, “What! He’s my friend!” Right then and there, he called Ki-yan, and a meeting was arranged. That serendipitous moment eventually led me to commission works from him.
This original painting was featured as the cover of my book Hajimete Tetsugaku Suru Hon (A Book for Starting to Philosophize). The concept of an elephant taking flight (“an elephant dancing in the air”) is wonderfully imaginative.