Meet the Japanese Painter Depicting Disasters by Mixing Traditional and Contemporary Art
Painter Yuta Niwa, like many young Japanese artists, incorporates traditional painting techniques and materials into his work, such as Japanese traditional paper, ink, pigments, and Nikawa glue.
Niwa deals with disasters such as earthquakes and infectious diseases using giant salamanders and catfish as motifs.
In his graduate thesis project, he depicted the devastation of four recent earthquakes in Japan using the giant catfish, which has been regarded as the source of earthquakes since ancient times, at the center of his work. The work was inspired by the popularity of catfish paintings in the 19th century, when major earthquakes occurred in Japan.
By exploring the resilience of human beings to overcome grief by replacing disasters with humor, Niwa uncovers the roots of the creative act that can be found in every age.
ARTnews JAPAN spoke with Niwa, who is temporarily back in Japan due to the pandemic after studying in Beijing since 2020.
On the day of the interview, Niwa appeared at Roppongi Station in Tokyo wearing a pair of glasses with a unique design frame, which he says he chose because “they look cool, like cyberpunk.” He smiled innocently and said that he bought them as a reward for winning an art competition last year.
This year, he is about to start work on 24 sliding door paintings for Tofukuji Temple, a 13th-century temple of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in Kyoto.
Niwa plans to stay at the temple and work on the paintings while living and sleeping with the monks. The range of his activities is extremely wide. Read More...
