I always have the same theme at the bottom of my heart. It is to express what people cannot see and cannot express, such as space, air, time, and distance. I always try to depict the colorless transparency that exists between the eye and the object, rather than using objects as a medium for unrealistic expression.

There are many thrilling experiences in the process of creation, such as a motif or a stain that is about to be erased creating an unexpected effect, or a phrase that jumps into your eyes or ears and leads you to the completion of the work. I value such “waste” and “noise”. The countless cracks and scratches that I intentionally create are one such example, and recently I have often attached foreign objects and ready-made items to my works. My theme for the future is to weave “trivial myths” through my works and exhibition spaces.

The relationship between a painter and a model is similar to that between a cook and an ingredient. No matter how good a cook you are, if the ingredients are not delicious, you have nothing to show for it. Many women have helped me to become the person I am today. That’s why I want to be able to depict not only the superficial beauty but also the inner strength and kindness of women. I hope that the women depicted in my works will remain with me for a long time to come, and I believe that this will be my way of repaying the women who supported me. (From WORKSOFKENTANAKAJIMA)

I use metal forging and engraving techniques. I cut out animals and ordinary scenes from everyday life and make them into works of art. I hope you can feel the fascination of metal materials.

I mainly create works using cats and people as motifs. I hope I could touch someone’s heartstrings by sublimating what I am attracted to and what I find fragile and beautiful into my works through my own filter.   Masaaki Hikita HP http://www.masaakihikida.com/

Everyone has darkness and light. I draw darkness in order to draw light. I want to give form to myself or my desire through the scenery and animals I encounter in my daily life.

Ayaka Umeda pursues new pictorial expression using the traditional dyeing technique of wax dyeing. Wax dyeing is a pattern-dyeing technique in which heated wax is dipped into a brush and allowed to permeate the cloth, thus preventing the dye from entering the permeated area. The reason why Umeda expresses herself through dyeing is because she feels the possibility of expressing a world beyond her imagination. The dye particles that move on the water cannot be completely controlled. Unlike painting, dyeing is said to be something you “become” rather than something you “do,” and it sometimes creates a world that no one could have imagined. Umeda expresses various themes with wax dyeing based on the nature around her which she has been familiar with since her childhood, out of her urge to see the new world created by dyeing. Ayaka Umeda HP https://ayakaumeda-art.com//

It is said that the movement of the moon is linked to the ebb and flow of the tides, affecting everything from the birth of new life to the internal cycles of animals. I chose the moon as a symbol of the source of life. Everyone has a memory of a night when they looked up at the moon. I hope to express the nostalgia that we all have. Tomoharu Okamura HP TOP  

I continue to paint water as a motif. This is because I am fascinated by the mystery and power of life-giving water. In my paintings, both the rich curves and the legal straight lines created by nature are equally encompassed in one organic world. Flowers, goldfish, and seaweed are also depicted as happy symbols around water, and I want to infuse my work with the aesthetic and fundamental sense of color that they reflect in the water. Kaoru Kan HP https://www.kaorukan.com/

I make it based on “curiosity”. It may be an act of trying to unravel the “why?” There, such as animals, women, flowers, shapes, colors, life, memories, time, and invisible things.

I create works focusing on familiar animals and plants such as sparrows. I am attracted to their robust and lovely appearance in the changing seasons. I would like to create paintings that give us a sense of peace and tranquility so that we can stop and take a breath in the midst of our fast-paced modern lives.

Bridley, a tin bird, was born as a symbol of time while drawing many old toys. He can’t fly no matter how much he winds the spring, but he is good at jumping. Until the spring gets rusty and stops working. Kenji Shimizu HP http://www.kenji-shimizu.com/indexpage.html

There are encounters on the road. People, plants, birds, cats, and many other things. These things can be found more or less everywhere, but I think they are often overlooked by people who are busy with their daily lives. I find it fascinating to stop for a moment and look at the ordinary, everyday things.

It depicts the breath of life, interwoven with small animals and plants living in the wind and the big nature. I hope it will spread your imagination as fresh and clean as the latter. Kazuyuki Sudo HP http://sutooo.net/

Using iwa-enogu (mineral pigments) and metallic mud and foil, the motifs of flora and fauna are expressed in the style of old ink paintings. Please look at the expression of Japanese painting today.

There is no particularly spectacular phenomenon. I wanted to record such a moment – a moment when I was fascinated by the flow of time in daily life – and I painted it down.

In Japanese painting, it is said that “line” is important. However, there are no “contour lines” because all visible things are three-dimensional. Lines” are created when we recognize the shape of objects, but I think they are very ambiguous things that can be greatly changed by different viewing angles and situations. I think that the reason why I draw pictures is to leave a moment of something that is always changing through the filter of myself. Yuka Taguchi HP https://www.yukataguchi.com/

I believe that art is free for both the artist and the viewer. I would be happy if the world I want to express matches the world of someone who sees my work. I want to keep drawing my dream in the reality of creation.

My aim is to create paintings that incorporate a contemporary perspective by layering images of natural phenomena such as the sky and water over themes that have been depicted since ancient times, such as the moon, flowers, and living creatures. I would like to create works that give a sense of abstraction within the figurative, and through sensory interpretation, give a sense of Japanese aesthetics. Junya Tsubota HP http://www.junyarts.net/

I paint with the feeling of the universal beauty that I want to look at from the flowers and birds around me, from the universe, and from the passing of time. When I look at a flower blooming at my feet, if I imagine the vastness and size of the universe, I realize that I am looking at the preciousness of this moment in time. I want to touch the relationship, technique, and sensitivity that nature and people have cultivated over a long period of time by looking at the strong, soft, and beautiful Japanese paper that contains light. I think it is my role as a painter to continue to search for the form of beauty and prayer within me while being guided by nature and materials.

No matter how happy or sad we are, no matter what the weather is like, the four seasons always come and go, and the greenery of the trees and plants remind us of the seasons with their gentle flowers. I am always grateful for the unchanging nature of the seasons, which gives me strength and kindness.

As a graduate of the design department, he is exploring visual expression appropriate to the times with “design x Japanese painting” in mind. Accepting the past created by the masters and denying the past at the same time is a necessary process to create new values.   Takeshi Nagoya HP http://nagoyatakashi.com/

I hope to grow with my paintings so that I do not lose the excitement and freshness that I felt when I first started painting.

The theme that I express by copperplate engraving is “Small happiness”. I draw “the story of small life” by overlapping it with small animals, plants and flowers. I am healed and encouraged by the gestures and expressions of animals. They gently remind me that there are important things in the activities we repeat so naturally that we don’t even notice.

I mainly create animal and plant paintings. I find animals adorable, and at the same time, I am fascinated by their high mobility and vitality. I hope to express their loveliness and the dignified beauty of life from my own point of view.

A momentary time that does not stay in this world but flickers transiently. A landscape that contains the presence of people and universal light, and that transfers and permeates. There are times when I question what it means to live in such moments. I create my works in the hope that you can feel the precious time in each of the landscapes I express. Yumi Yamazaki HP http://www.yamazakiyumi.com/profile/

He mainly uses seibutsu as a motif, and creates oil paintings on the theme of “life and death” as he imagines it. Life exists as if covered by death, and when that life decays again, it comes back to life again. The energy generated in such a reincarnation attracts me, and it is the axis of my work.