Katsumi Hayakawa has long been preoccupied with what lies beneath the surface—those quiet, intricate systems that shape how we move through cities, images, and even our own perceptions. Known for his meticulously layered paper constructions and evocative paintings, the Japan-born artist builds worlds that feel at once architectural and atmospheric, balancing precision with something more elusive and intuitive. His work often hovers between visibility and concealment, where light, shadow, and negative space become as integral as the structures themselves.
Now, that sensibility is unfolding in a new direction through a collaboration with Infiniment Coty Paris’s latest fragrance line, Les Osmiums. Motivated by osmium—the densest metal on earth—the collection expands the horizons of concentration and presence, offering spellbinding and enveloping scents. Katsumi Hayakawa has been commissioned to interpret L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium by Infiniment Coty Paris using a glass canvas made of stackable Infiniment Coty Paris bottles. L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium evokes the intensity of an embrace at nightfall, balancing luminous aromatic freshness with deep ambery warmth—lavender, sage, and bergamot rising above a sensual base of vanilla, cistus, patchouli, and amber accords. Hayakawa’s work responds to this tension, translating the perfume’s push and pull between light and shadow into a visual composition charged with emotional and spatial density.
Courtesy of Katsumi Hayakawa.
Courtesy of Katsumi Hayakawa.
The partnership signals a natural evolution of the artist’s practice. After all, his work has always been about unseen forces—networks, atmospheres, and spatial experiences that extend beyond what the eye can grasp. Scent, with its ability to move invisibly and settle into memory, becomes a compelling new material in that ongoing inquiry.
Rather than illustrating the fragrance, the artist interprets its essence: the paradox of osmium itself—immense weight contained within a compact form, mirrored in a work that feels both intense and restrained.
What emerges is a shared investigation into density—visual, material, and now olfactory. In Hayakawa’s hands, even the most intangible elements begin to take on mesmerizing form.
Katsumi Hayakawa on Building with Fragility
Katsumi Hayakawa, “Blue reflection,” 2025, mixed media on panel, 127 x 102 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Katsumi Hayakawa, “M-01A2,” 2021, paper and mixed media on paper mounted panel, 60.5 x 43 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
WHITEWALL: How did this investigation into density, construction, and spatial networks begin in your work?
KATSUMI HAYAKAWA: The starting point of my work is an interest in urban space. However, when we speak about a city, it is never a single, uniform entity. In Tokyo, for example, you can find the dazzling and highly ordered atmosphere of Ginza existing alongside the chaotic energy of Asakusa. These spaces represent very different temporal and cultural layers—something like a contrast between the modern and the premodern.
This tension does not exist only within the city itself; it also reflects something internal to me. I have always felt a certain ambivalence toward modernity. While I am fascinated by its ability to generate systems, order, and rational structures, I am equally interested in what those systems conceal or leave unseen.
From this perspective, I became increasingly interested in the structures that lie behind what we perceive on the surface of urban environments—the hidden layers and networks that quietly support what we see.
Paper, as a material, embodies a similar duality. It is extremely delicate and fragile, yet when assembled into a structure it can acquire a surprising sense of strength and presence. For me, this coexistence of fragility and structural power makes paper a particularly meaningful medium through which to explore the tensions and complexities inherent in cities and in modernity itself.
“This coexistence of fragility and structural power makes paper a particularly meaningful medium,”
-Katsumi Hayakawa.
WW: Reflecting on past exhibitions such as “Gold: Devotion and Desire,” “Particles of Light,” and “Paper Works,” how does the interaction between illumination, architectural form, and negative space guide your work?
KH: The relationship between light and space is central to my work. While the paper structures have a clear physical presence, their interaction with light produces shadows and reflections that generate additional spatial layers.
Negative space is not simply emptiness; it functions as an active element, as important as the structure itself. During the process, subtle changes in light or shadow often reveal unexpected visual situations, which sometimes lead the work in new directions.
How Place Shapes Perception
Katsumi Hayakawa, “Shape of light,” 2021, pet mirror, paper, wood, 120 x 103 x 5 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
WW: How do you approach this dialogue between order and fluidity in the studio?
KH: There is an ongoing tension in my work between geometric order and organic movement. While the structures are carefully designed and highly precise, I deliberately leave space in the process for chance and for a more intuitive, physical engagement with the material.
My paper constructions tend to be technical and linear, whereas my paintings introduce more organic curves, imagery, and emotional qualities. I see this contrast as reflecting a kind of internal duality within my own thinking.
WW: How do international audiences interpret your work?
KH: While my work often refers to urban structures, audiences in different regions tend to interpret it in distinct ways. In Japan, viewers sometimes relate the work to the density and complexity of cities such as Tokyo. In Europe or the U.S., the conversation often shifts more toward abstraction, spatial rhythm, or architectural form.
I find these different readings very interesting, because they reveal how perception is shaped by cultural context and by the environments people are used to inhabiting. Each exhibition becomes an opportunity to see the work through a slightly different lens.
Recently, presenting my work in different international settings has also led to unexpected conversations about how invisible systems—whether architectural, social, or perceptual—shape the spaces we experience every day. Those exchanges continue to influence how I think about space and structure in my practice.
Translating Fragrance into Form with Katsumi Hayakawa Explores
Courtesy of Infiniment COTY Paris.
WW: How did this special partnership come about?
KH: My collaboration with Infiniment Coty Paris began as an exploration of new connections between art and the senses. Scent operates in a different way from vision, shaping our experience of space and memory. The universe of Les Osmiums by Infiniment Coty Paris is defined by a distinctive blue (blue cap and blue label), which echoes perfectly with my body of work. For this reason, Infiniment Coty Paris decided to reach out to me to collaborate on this project. When I encountered L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium, I was struck by its powerful contrast—freshness suspended over a warm, enveloping base. It felt almost architectural, as if different atmospheres were layered within the same space. This sensation became the conceptual starting point for my artwork.
I felt there was a natural resonance between the themes I explore in my work—such as invisible structures and spatial experience—and the way fragrance expands through perception in an intangible yet powerful way.
“Scent is deeply personal, yet it is also a spatial experience,”
-Katsumi Hayakawa.
WW: What draws you to scent?
KH: Scent is deeply personal, yet it is also a spatial experience. Even within a city, different places often carry distinct olfactory memories. These invisible environmental layers resonate with the kinds of structures I have been exploring in my work. L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium has a particular density, not heavy in a physical sense, but emotionally saturated. It feels like a presence that surrounds you, gradually revealing warmer, darker facets over time. I wanted the artwork to evoke that sensation of being enveloped, as if entering an invisible yet tangible atmosphere.
Fragrance spreads through space and changes over time. When considered as a kind of invisible structure, scent becomes a very compelling medium to think about.
Between Structure and Intuition
Katsumi Hayakawa, “Intersection Blue,” paper and mixed media, 91 × 182 cm, 2018, courtesy of Michecko Galerie, Munich.
WW: Where do you begin conceptually?
KH: When thinking about a collaboration, I usually begin not from a specific sense, but from a spatial image. I imagine what kind of experience might unfold within that space, and then consider how elements such as vision and scent might relate to one another within it.
By layering different sensory languages, I believe the experience of the work can become richer and more complex.
WW: What can viewers and collectors expect next from your practice?
KH: An upcoming solo exhibition of my work will open on May 2 at McClain Gallery in Houston, United States. I have been preparing for this show for a long time, so I believe it will be a substantial and engaging presentation. The exhibition will consist of around ten large-scale paintings together with five paper works.
In the autumn, several group presentations are planned through Galerie Electron Libre in Paris, including participation in the POSITIONS Art Fair in Germany. Looking ahead, I will also have a solo exhibition at Gallery MoMo in Tokyo in 2027.
Scent as an Invisible Architecture
Courtesy of Katsumi Hayakawa.
WW: What aspects of L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium most influenced your artwork?
KH: What influenced me most was the tension between dispersion and concentration. The image of extreme density and compression embodied by osmium strongly resonated with my practice. Rather than translating the fragrance directly, I approached it as a state. Dispersed elements gather through relationships, gradually forming a presence with increasing density. I am interested in that process itself.
“I understand osmium as a metaphor for condensed existence. It is not an independent entity,”
-Katsumi Hayakawa.
WW: How did the concept of osmium shape your creative approach?
KH: I understand osmium as a metaphor for condensed existence. It is not an independent entity, but a state that gains intensity through the accumulation of relationships. In my practice, structures and phenomena emerge from the accumulation of small elements. The concept of osmium reinforced my perspective of density—not as a visual effect, but as a mode of relationship.
