Category Archives: Japan

Misato Sano

May 20, 2021 12:03 AM \

Misato Sano completed the sculpture area of the Graduate School of Design, Tohoku University of Art and Design. The talented wood carver hails from in the Myagi prefecture of Japan. She carves wooden busts & full figures of well-groomed dogs, preferring to leave the small gouges from her chisel on their textured exteriors. On This is Colossal she says this about her work:

“For me, using the form of dogs is the most appropriate, highest-resolution method to materialize what I think of my inner self. Materializing myself in various states is about having an honest, direct dialogue with myself. In facing myself, I would like to be passionate, free, and loving, like a dog. My works are also about myself looking at myself. In that sense, I might have been making an existence that is sometimes beside myself, a little distance in other times, watching over myself.”

The artist can be followed on her website and on Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Misato Sano.

Posted in: Japan, Sculpture \ Tagged: ,

Hiroyuki Izutsu

May 17, 2021 12:03 AM \

Tokyo-based illustrator Hiroyuki Izutsu began his career as an animator before turning to illustration.  Motifs of his work include humans, landscapes and flowers.  Inspired by everyday life, Hiroyuki primarily works in opaque watercolor, combining hand-drawn and digital techniques to create his distinctive images.  His incredibly vibrant color palette can be seen on book covers in the Japanese publishing industry contributing to the sales of many bestselling books.  On Portfolio-ai he says this about why he became an illustrator:

“I’ve loved drawing since I was a kid, and I was a boy who wanted to be a manga artist. After graduating from animation school, I first started working as an animator. When I first learned about illustration, when I entered the company, the illustrations of Teruhiko Yumura and Yosuke Kawamura came out, and I thought it was cool and started to be aware of the work of “illustration” and wanted to become an illustrator. I thought.”

“When I wondered what I wanted to do, I wanted to do what I liked, and I remember drawing when I was a kid, forgetting time, and I like drawing after all. I thought.”

The artist can be found on his website, Behance, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Hiroyuki Izutsu.

Posted in: Illustration, Japan \ Tagged: ,

Arii Momoya Pottery

May 14, 2021 12:03 AM \

Hyakuyo Arii graduated from Osaka University of Arts, Department of Design. She worked as a planning designer at a stuffed toy and stationery company, then at a printing company, and a design office. Currently she is active as a freelancer. In 2012 she started her ceramic company, Arii Mimosa Pottery. Each of the molding and hand-painted words and motifs is created through a number of processes.  Her creation motifs of Western antiques and religious elements often including Latin words.

More of her work can be viewed on her website and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Arii Momoya Pottery.

Posted in: Ceramics, Japan, Pottery \ Tagged: , ,
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