Artist Statement

Poetic Statement | Origin

“Dreams bloom, and a human presence appears” —
Paintings that pray for the soul through flowers

My paintings begin with a sense of insufficiency.
Yet it is precisely this feeling of “not being whole” that becomes the seed of creation,
giving rise to a longing for fusion—between man and woman, light and shadow, self and other.

Using traditional materials and techniques of Japanese painting,
I create works that seek to connect the beauty of the earth
with the emotional realm of the universe.

Hanahuman (Flower-Human) is my representative motif:
a figure whose face is replaced by a flower.
Roses, cherry blossoms, and lotuses resonate with the viewer’s own memories and emotions,
allowing each person to weave a free and personal narrative.

Among these, the rose holds special significance,
having emerged from a prayer for a close friend who has passed away.

In the Byakuya (White Night) series,
female nudes floating within silver leaf evoke unnamed emotions
that lie deep within the female psyche.

If my paintings are able to let a quiet flower bloom
within someone’s heart,
that is my greatest joy.

Artist Statement | Current Position

Kumiko Yamada | Japanese Painter / Research-based Artist

Working with traditional Japanese painting materials and techniques,
I continue to explore how beauty acts upon the inner world of human beings.

Rather than presenting idealized figures in the manner of bijinga (traditional beauty paintings),
my practice centers on a method of anonymization—
transforming the human face into a flower—
through which the subject of the work shifts
from the depicted figure to the viewer.

By removing information that allows an individual to be identified,
the viewer is compelled, often unconsciously,
to project their own memories, emotions, and imagination into the work.

My paintings are not portraits of specific individuals;
they are spaces that reflect
the very act of looking itself.

Research Statement / Concept

This body of work constitutes a long-term research project
that reexamines the relationship between beauty and individuality in portraiture.

Instead of reproducing idealized human beauty,
I employ a method of anonymization by transforming the face into a floral form,
thereby shifting the subject of the work
from the depicted figure to the viewer.

Flowers such as roses, cherry blossoms, and lotuses are not decorative elements;
they function as mediators that draw out the viewer’s memories and emotions.

The time-intensive process and materials of Japanese painting
resonate with the pace at which meaning arises within the viewer,
making visible the act of seeing itself.