Natsuko Sakamoto – Painting to Communicate with the Unknown

Tomio Koyama Gallery is pleased to present “Painting to Communicate with Someone Unknown,” a solo exhibition of new works by Natsuko Sakamoto. This exhibition marks Sakamoto’s first solo presentation with the gallery.

Natsuko Sakamoto is an artist who has continuously explored the possibilities of painting through her distinctive artistic process. In her first solo exhibition in Nagoya in 2008, Sakamoto presented paintings of young girls set within labyrinthine landscapes enclosed by tiles. Although her work has continually evolved since then, it has consistently been marked by a continuity that unfolds within painting itself. Consistently engaging with painting as a medium itself, Sakamoto approaches the act of painting not as a means of portraying preexisting images, but as “a way of touching a space that does not yet exist.” By actively incorporating the “mistakes” that occur during the creative process, the artist creates pictorial spaces that exceed expectations.

Regarding the new works presented in this exhibition, Sakamoto remarks, “I imagine that if each trace of paint in a finished painting could remain on the canvas without its position being fixed, it might open up multiple possibilities for communication into the future.” This way of engaging with painting also echoes Sakamoto’s communication with her father, who has gradually been losing his memory in recent years. He sends her messages made up of strings of characters that she cannot fully decode. Although at first glance, these messages may appear to be typing errors, they nonetheless contain an intention directed toward someone. Sakamoto finds in the way she responds to these messages, which she cannot fully decipher, the same attitude with which she engages with painting. Paintings that behave beyond the artist’s intentions can also seem like messages from her future self, or from someone she has yet to meet.

Through this new body of work, the exhibition presents Sakamoto’s conception of painting as “communication with someone unknown.” We invite you to experience the possibilities of painting as it moves beyond notions of right and wrong, connecting us to worlds yet unknown.

Natsuko Sakamoto was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1983. She completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Aichi University of the Arts, in 2012. She currently resides in Tokyo.

Gallery hours 11 am – 7 pm, closed Sun, Mon, National Holidays

Exhibition Duration 22.08. – 19.09.2026

www.tomiokoyamagallery.com

Location:
Tomio Koyama Gallery Roppongi
complex665 2F, 6-5-24, Minato-ku
106-0032 Tokyo
Japan