The Anthropocene Reviewed 32. Hiroyuki Doi’s Circle Drawings Summary & Analysis

Green sometimes likes to focus on repetitive tasks, like signing copies of his books. He was reminded of the repetitive book-signing process when he first saw the ink drawings of Hiroyuki Doi in 2006 at the American Folk Art Museum. The drawings are full of very small, obsessively detailed circles, almost like a thing made of cells. Doi never intended to be an artist, but he turned to drawing after his younger brother died of a brain tumor and he needed a way to distract himself. Green sympathized with Doi’s attempts to find relief by entering a flow state. Reflecting on the drawings, Green sees the desire to make things as fundamentally human, and he is grateful for the things that people like Doi make. He gives the circle drawings 4 stars.

Green’s book is full of small things that symbolize larger issues during the Anthropocene. In that context, it’s clear why Hiroyuki Doi’s art would appeal to green, because it also involves building a larger picture out of lots of smaller parts. For Doi, art has therapeutic value in helping him deal with grief, and Green sees this as similar to his own work, as he uses this current book to work through his fears about things like the coronavirus pandemic and the challenges humans will face with climate change.

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The Anthropocene Reviewed: 32. Hiroyuki Doi’s Circle Drawings Summary & Analysis