My painting studio overlooks the Bay of Tokyo. Before the rises from behind the Boso Peninsula, the city has already started another busy day. From my windows, I see the crowded highways to the east as well as the freight vessels that traverse the bay. Man’s presence juxtaposed with the natural world blends harmoniously with the beautiful morning light – it is my favorite part of the morning.
As the sun ascends, it bathes the expansive sky and the sea in the glow of dawn. Pale orange and grayish blues merge, ephemeral in mood and tone. When the wind is high, smoke drifts from the factories that stand sentinel upon the distant shore, adding to the floating veils of clouds with the sunlight piercing through to scatter the sea below with sparks of gold. The day gives way to the fiery sunsets and muted twilight shades, the moon pauses in its sailing upon a sea of night to hang over the Gate Bridge and I feel as if I gaze upon all of the stars in the heavens.
I want to capture the juxtaposition and harmonies between the natural world and the artificial one that mankind has shaped through the evolution of our modern societies. Balancing that existential tension forms the scaffolding for my work, and influences the various motifs placed throughout my paintings. These vistas I capture on my canvas may be born from nostalgia, childhood memories, or the influence of my culture, sometimes they’re even inspired by a touching piece of music or my travels to exotic islands, but they all have roots in the mundane and often-overlooked beauty that surrounds each of us.
There is sometimes a struggle to present my ideas upon canvas. My themes and motifs are often more conflicting than collaborative, offering up various challenges as I seek to find a way to present the intangible in a tangible medium and stamp permanence onto the ephemeral. In my art,
I present reality and fantasy, past and future, natural and artificial, and my heart, mind and brushes will continue to delve into those contrasts with layered images and reverberant palettes. Nothing would bring me greater joy than to know my paintings have stirred similar sentiment in guests who view my work. I hope you visit my work here, from time to time, and share in the emotions I pour into my paintings.
I present reality and fantasy, past and future, natural and artificial, and my heart, mind and brushes will continue to delve into those contrasts with layered images and reverberant palettes. Nothing would bring me greater joy than to know my paintings have stirred similar sentiment in guests who view my work. I hope you visit my work here, from time to time, and share in the emotions I pour into my paintings.
Sumiko Sakamoto
I was born in Hiroshima, a region steeped in a wealth of contrasts; ancient culture and history abut with remembrances of past wars and memorials while at the same time modern culture and technology are a part of everyday life. I feel that my upbringing surrounded by those confluences echoes into my paintings and in how I draw my inspiration for my art. I’ve always had a love of travel and an interest in international cultures, in particular the way languages and experiences transcend borders, leading me to pursue a major in German from Osaka University. From my college days, I took on a position as a sales manager with IBM but left after a few years to forge my own business in 2013 as a Balinese art dealer. My passion for art brought me to painting in those years and in 2015 my work was accepted into the 100th Nika Exhibition, one of the largest art exhibitions in Japan. Shortly after this success, I won the New Face Award in the 42nd Japan Naïve Art Exhibition of 2016 and in 2020 Société des Artistes Français accepted my work into Le Salon 2021, 2022.
2013 | 「バリアートショールーム」設立 バリ島の絵画作品を日本に紹介するかたわら、自身も画家を志す |
2015 | 二科展初入選 |
2016 | 現代童画展新人賞 |
2017 | 同 賞候補・会友推挙 |
2018 | 同 会友奨励賞 |
2019 | 同 賞候補・会員推挙 |
2021 | フランス芸術家協会「ル・サロン」初入選 |
「台日藝術博覧会」に出展、彩華賞を受賞 | |
2022 | 「第35回パリ国際サロン」にてギャラリー・デュ・マレ賞を受賞 |
フランス芸術家協会「ル・サロン」外国人会員に認定 |