Painting and Drawing
I depict mitochondria in melancholic conditions as a metaphorical effect to describe humanity in the Anthropocene. Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell, producing energy through the process of cellular respiration. Human beings have evolved by accepting (or collaborating with) mitochondria in harsh environments.
(Photo: Marc Joly-Corcoran)
This is a portrait of Deinococcus radiodurans, which is one of the most radiation-resistant organisms that can and will survive even in a contaminated environment. The installation of this work and Melancholic Mitochondria shows human evolution in its phases of mutation.
I combined Japanese aesthetics and Western oil painting for this painting of my pet dog. I worked in the Japanese painting and Kacho-fugetsu (the traditional theme of natural beauty depicting harmonious beauties of nature such as flowers, birds, and plants). In a word, Japanese style painting was developed by ink on paper and was based on thoughts like animism, Shintoism, and Buddhism among other things. I introduced some Japanese aesthetics elements such as emptiness, simplification, lines, absence of shadows/shades, non-appearance of a horizontal line describing the land, specific patterns, and spiritualism.
This website shows my paintings and drawings from 2001 to 2011. The purpose of these artworks was to express my vision about Japanese nature and culture. I aspired to grasp the vital connection between human beings and their natural environments. As a Japanese living in a global world, this art was dedicated to reaching harmony with nature, as well as to fill the gap between the traditional and the modern, the local and the global.
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