Hiroyuki Doi standing beside his "The Transmutation of the Soul, HD 2819" at Ricco/Maresca. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock

Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi, 64, sporting Jackie O sunglasses and a mischievous smile, spoke this past Saturday afternoon about the death of his brother, the wonders of washi paper and his desire to draw the smallest circles on earth. He addressed a group of fans, including collector Audrey Heckler, who had gathered on a brisk Chelsea afternoon at Ricco/Maresca Gallery.

“My challenge, precisely, is how small circles I can draw,” said Doi, speaking through a translator. Doi’s drawings contain thousands of pulsating, clustered orbs, inked with a trusty Pilot pen. His drawings are at once microscopic and while paradoxically appearing to contain the infinite vastness of the universe, or a star-filled sky, observed Doi’s dealer Frank Maresca. They are simultaneously minimal and maximal, noted Maresca.

Doi is a chef by training. He continues to teach elderly Japanese men to cook as a sideline.

The death of a younger brother 37-years-ago triggered his artistic impulse, first represented by landscapes and floral images. His 20-year-old brother died of a brain tumor. “That was very shocking,” said Doi. “It was a big loss for me.”

He found his metier in corn kernels. “I looked at at sweet corn and it looked like people’s faces,” said Doi. “Then I discovered circles to express myself.”

So what inspires him now? “I imagine the universe and then I draw,” he said.

Doi works for two or three months on his larger drawings. He was asked what happens if he is working on a piece and realizes he has made marks he is not satisfied with. Doi conferred with his translator in a flurry of Japanese. The answer: “Never happens.”

Doi’s debut show at Ricco/Maresca is on view until Feb. 19.

Hiroyuki Doi, "Untitled, HD 2410," 2009, ink on paper, 18 x 15 inches. Courtesy Ricco/Maresca

Hiroyuki Doi, "Untitled, HD 2010," 2009, ink on paper, 18 x 15 inches. Courtesy Ricco/Maresca