Born in Osaka in 1977. Currently attends a workshop in Habikino, Osaka, and is a once-a-week member of the Nanairo Circus Troupe, based in Oji, Nara.
Members of the Nanairo Circus Troupe go out into the forest in the morning to farm and take care of the animals, but Sogi is recognized for his love of insects, and searching for them net in hand. He’ll find centipedes and other bugs under fallen trees, and capture them gently with his bare hands to observe them. When the time comes, he returns them to the forest and returns to the workshop.
Sogi has been a paper-cutout artist for more than 30 years, starting when he was 11 years old. His creations include an imaginary creature, the XYZ-saurus, a fusion of insect and dinosaur. At the workshop he creates whenever he feels like it, and can complete an A4-size paper cutout in 3 or 4 hours if he concentrates on it. If unfinished, he sometimes takes them home as extra assignments.
The jagged forms that emerge from a single sheet of paper are a microcosmos composed of the things he loves. A blend of their venomousness and gentleness is projected onto their beautiful silhouettes.