YUKO MURATA

The simple composition of her fields are influenced by 18th century traditional paintings of Japan where artists challenged to create a composition with minimum colors and objects.

Her subjects are mostly derived from existing media such as tourist brochures, encyclopedia, postcards and magazines . It is as if to travel the world with the eye of the others, being non-judgmental and with respect to second hand images that travels through time. Her subject ranges from grass, cactus, flowers, animals to landscapes. Composed of limited colors and brush stroke that is strong in the background as much as in the subject, the small scale painting vibrates with lush paint.

Represented in its minimal forms eliminating any decorative elements, the calmness in her paintings relates to the traditional Japanese aesthetic “Wabi Sabi” meaning “humble and quiet”. The plants and animals stand quietly where we could never reach.