Blots

Blots reimagine the iconic Rorschach inkblot test as a visceral meditation on identity, perception, and impermanence. Created using India ink and the artist’s own blood, each work reflects the intimate and subjective nature of meaning-making. Sealed in encaustic wax to preserve and slow oxidation, the blots exist in tension between permanence and decay—mirroring the fragility of self-concept and the inevitable transformation of all things. Through this process, Inouye transforms psychological evaluation into personal ritual, bridging the physical and spiritual through breath, blood, and mark-making.

Referencing the Rorschach’s mid-century role as a diagnostic tool, Inouye invites viewers to project their own interpretations onto the forms—thereby confronting the fluid, constructed nature of identity. The incorporation of organic material lends the work a corporeal immediacy, while its layered surfaces suggest the hidden dimensions of consciousness. As an extension of Inouye’s broader practice, Blots continues his exploration of visibility, perception, and self-inquiry—challenging us to question how we see ourselves, how we are seen, and how meaning dissolves and reassembles in the spaces between.