Toru Hayashi (b. Kobe, Japan, 1963) is a conceptualist based in New York who creates endearing images. While studying mathematics at college in Sapporo, Japan, in 1986, Hayashi became interested in combining words randomly to make his language system since he delved into the theory of numeric combination and permutation, which is the basis of computer language. In the same year, Hayashi traveled around Europe and saw “Chambres d’Amis” in Ghent, Belgium. Seeing the art installations in the houses and talking to the artists allowed him to come closer to art since the nature of contemporary art was similar to what he had learned from playing with words/creating a new language. Since moving to New York in 1990 after two years of studying art in Tokyo, Hayashi has pursued the relationship between an image and its meaning in his art practice.