City Pop by Hiroshi Nagai

April 17, 2025 by Arseny Vesnin in 2025, Art, Illustration, Lifestyle, Japan, Portfolios

Hiroshi Nagai (b. 1947) is a Japanese artist known for his vibrant, nostalgic illustrations that capture the dreamy essence of summer. Inspired by the 1970s and ’80s pop culture, his work often features palm trees, swimming pools, and sleek architecture under bright blue skies.

His signature style became iconic during the rise of Japan’s City Pop music scene, especially through album covers like Eiichi Ohtaki’s A Long Vacation. Blending clean lines, bold colours, and a calm, minimalist aesthetic, Nagai creates timeless scenes that feel both familiar and surreal.

@hiroshipenguinjoe

𝗛𝗲𝘆𝟰𝗿𝗼 solo exhibition 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 2024.8/17 at Excube Japan

Heyshiro - Painting in Whispers of Light

April 13, 2025 by Arseny Vesnin in 2025, Art, Japan, Portfolios

Heyshiro’s approach to acrylic is unlike anyone else’s. Instead of bold, heavy strokes, he builds up his paintings slowly—thin, watery washes layered over faint sketches of colour. The effect isn’t just an image; it’s an atmosphere, a depth that feels almost luminous like the light is coming from within the canvas itself.

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A post shared by Heyshiro (@hey4ro)

His recent portraits are quiet but powerful. They start fragile, almost tentative, before sharpening into clarity. The surface doesn’t feel painted so much as breathed onto—soft, delicate, like fog on glass. Then, at the very end, he anchors it all with faint pencil lines, just enough to pull that dreamlike quality back into reality.

Heyshiro doesn’t just paint figures. He finds them, layer by layer, through light and shadow, working at a pace that feels more like meditation than art-making.

@hey4ro

En Iwamura

September 27, 2023 by Arseny Vesnin in 2023, Art, Portfolios, Sculpture, Japan

En Iwamura's artistic exploration centres on transforming viewers' spatial experiences through site-responsive installations, drawing inspiration from the Japanese philosophy of "Ma." This philosophy, encompassing elements like distance, moments, and relationships, is a guiding principle in his work. Iwamura's installations allow viewers to engage with and discover their sense of "Ma" within the space.

In addition to installations, Iwamura creates ceramic characters infused with humour and serenity, inspired by the concept of "Ma”, which imbues tangible energy and emotions into his creations. These characters often feature repeated lines reminiscent of Zen Buddhist garden patterns.

He is an artist who enjoys exploring different styles and materials, such as ceramics. He likes experimenting with different colours and textures, sometimes mixing them by hand. He finds inspiration from various artists, including Ken Price, Katharina Fritsch, and Ugo Rondinone.

Iwamura sees ceramics as a universal cultural language, skillfully blending influences from Japanese traditional craft with a willingness to break conventions by infusing history with pop culture. He reimagines ceramics as a dynamic and evolving art form through his playful and skilful approach.

en-iwamura.com

Sea Plants by Mariko Kusumoto

July 12, 2021 by Arseny Vesnin in 2021, Art, Japan, Portfolios, Sculpture

@marikokusumoto

“From polyester, nylon, and cotton, Japanese artist and designer Mariko Kusumoto fabricates sculptural forms that resemble the creatures and everyday objects she finds most fascinating. She uses a proprietary heat-setting technique to mold the ubiquitous materials into undulating ripples, honeycomb poufs, and even tiny schools of fish that are presented in elegant and fanciful contexts. Whether a pastel coral reef or a fantastical bracelet filled with mushrooms, rosettes, and minuscule bicycles, Kusumoto’s body of work, which includes standalone objects and wearables, uses the ethereal qualities of the translucent fibers to make even the banalest forms appear like they’re part of a dream.” - via @Colossal

Masanori Ushiki

May 31, 2021 by Arseny Vesnin in 2021, Illustration, Japan, Portfolios

@ushikima

Japanese illustrator Masa Ushiki likes to present work tailored to the times and media of today. From humorous portraits to fashion conscious works based on aspects of boys’ culture such as manga, animation, special effects.

Phygital Masks by Ikeuchi Hiroto

April 22, 2021 by Arseny Vesnin in 2021, Digital Art, Design, Japan, Portfolios

@_ikeuchi

These days you cannot be 100% sure what you see on the screen, things can be real, virtual or mixed as physical and digital what is called simply “Phygital”. Here is artist Ikeuchi Hiroto creating her cyborgs with elements of phygital armory

Portrait of Beatrice Cenci / Guido Reni (1600)

AI as an Artist - Yuma Kishi

April 01, 2021 by Arseny Vesnin in 2021, Digital Art, Japan, Portfolios

@obake_ai

Japanese artist Yuma Kishi trains GANs related DeepAI systems to work with art and recreate it meanings in a wake of Crypto Renaissance.

org. Ecce Homo / Guido Reni (1650)

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (1635)

Bacchus and Ariadne, circa / Guido Reni (1619-1620)

On Superrare

Katsuyo Aoki Ceramic Sculpture

March 11, 2021 by Arseny Vesnin in 2021, Art, Japan, Sculpture, Portfolios

@katsuyo_aoki

Katsuyo Aoki is best known for her ceramic sculptures that apply delicate, swirling forms to dark subject matter. Aoki trained first as a painter before taking up ceramic as her primary medium, though she sometimes creates abstracted images on her ceramic surfaces using glazes in monochromatic palettes.

Aoki is best known for her works in relief or in the round, and an ornate style that draws from a range of decorative styles. Her works often look radically different from varying perspectives. Frequently used motifs and forms include the skull, the crown, and dismembered parts of animals—allusions to historic narratives and mythologies.

Electric Tokyo by Elora Pautrat

September 29, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Illustration, Digital Art, Portfolios, Photography, Japan

Environment artist Elora Pautrat living in Japan shares her visual stories of Tokyo made of photos, digitals and some magic

@owakita_

Takashi Kuribayashi

May 22, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Art, Japan, Portfolios

The work by Japanese artist Takashi Kuribayashi (1968) explores the boundaries that separate human civilization from the natural world. Kuribayashi was struck by the division of Germany into Eastern and Western states, which led him into an on-going consideration in various media of the theme boundaries.

Tree of Ibuki 2020 "Setouchi Art Triennale 2020"

His work is the outcome of being confronted with ‘restricted zones’ or ‘no-go areas’ in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Being faced with the impossible long-lasting and yet invisible borders, he set himself to investigate this and making these borders visible in his work by weaving a new flow of time with his installations.

Wasser Wände (water wall)

“The truth resides in places that are invisible. Once you are aware of that there is a different world out of sight, you will be living in a different way.”

— Takashi Kuribayashi

www.takashikuribayashi.com

Yoshito Hasaka Photography

May 21, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Japan, Portfolios, Photography

Japanes photographer Yoshito Hasaka polishes his skills as hard as katana’s steel by revealing midnight shots of Tokyo he made on daily basis

@_f7

Visual ASMR

March 19, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Agencies, Digital Art, Japan, Motioncollector

Japanese Art studio Onesal has launched a self-initiated series of four short films proposing a novel visual approach to explain it.
Visual ASMR, or Visual Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. ASMR is the subjective experience of euphoria characterized by a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin.

Natural sculpture formations set in seemingly impossible earth-like landscapes covered by living elements of surreal colors, each film travels through each almost at a micro level, witnessing its evolution. All takes place in four other-worldly landscapes we set up to examine up close the interaction, movements and evolution of the elements with their surroundings.

Each of the shorts is inspired by elements in nature, architecture and timelapse photography.
The body of work delves into textural, tactile elements morphing and interacting with each other in surreal environments.
The work set off to blur the boundaries between nature and design, simplicity and complexity, in an abstract uncompromised way.

Sound Design

Since the concept of this short film is Visual ASMR, a big emphasis was put on the sound effects of the elements when they grow, evolve, collide among each other and their surroundings. Crisp, defined sounds effects that further accentuate the movement of the elements on the screen. All the elements of the film are felt as if they were real, inviting viewers to reach out and touch them.

Design Process

@onesal_studio

Fashion Snap by Kota Yamaji

February 26, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Digital Art, Japan, Portfolios

Digital artist Kota Yamaji shares his lates studies in near-future fashion made for post human race

@kotayamaji

Kotaro Chiba Illustrations

February 18, 2020 by Arseny Vesnin in 2020, Illustration, Japan, Portfolios

Japanese illustrator Kotaro Chiba shares his love to a mix of traditional and contemporary practices

@kotaro_chiba

House in Ashiya

September 17, 2019 by Arseny Vesnin in 2019, Architecture, Japan

“Stark grey precast concrete, with an orderly gridded pattern covering every single surface visible to the eye. Large openings, pouring skylights, verdant greeneries embracing the neighbourly views. Monolithically, House in Ashiya by Japanese architecture firm Kazunori Fujimoto Architects stands still like a gentle giant in a residential area of Ashiya city, Hyogo Prefecture.”

Painting Machines by Lolo & Sosaku

July 15, 2019 by Arseny Vesnin in 2019, Art, Argentina, Japan, Portfolios

Lolo (Buenos Aires) and Sosaku (Tokyo) investigate the possibilities of sculpture as an expanded field. The nexus that unites his works is the search for an object in contact with his surroundings and with the spectator. An object that seeks friction, friction, and tension. His work moves between different languages such as sculpture, installation, kinetic art and painting. Its modus operandi: to constitute itself as a subject, and from its machinic materiality, to point to transcendence, to mysticism and to the unknown.

@loloysosaku

Wenyi Geng illustrations

May 24, 2019 by Arseny Vesnin in 2019, Illustration, Japan, Portfolios

Wenyi Geng was born in Japan, grew up in China

@wenyigeng

Matthias Freissler Photography

March 05, 2019 by Arseny Vesnin in 2019, Architecture, Germany, Japan, Portfolios, Photography

Minimalistic photography of architectural visual stories is a main interest of Japan-based and Germany-raised artist Matthias Freissler. If you like clean forms, light and magic - follow Matthias globally

@mftokyo

Okuyama Taiki

November 19, 2018 by Arseny Vesnin in Japan, Graphic Design, Portfolios, 2018

“Okuyama Taiki is a Japanese graphic designer incorporating a sense of liveliness and fun into his creative practice. While running a novelty book store in Tokyo that was free, Okuyama became interested in the values of exchange that led to a career in design.”

“Communication between information and people, and between people and people, is the most important issue to me”

This emphasis is seen in two of his projects, Playing Body Player as well as in the visuals for Owarhythm Benkai. Firstly, Playing Body Player is the visual identity for an exhibition of the same title organised by Seijo University of Art and Design.

“For the visuals for the Japanese rock band Owarhythm Benkai, Okuyama pays tribute to the neon signage aesthetic. He concisely engages the viewer with the use of looping colours that aren’t too in your face while still grabbing attention; utilising the medium of gifs to simply animate striking visuals which in turn, maximises on intrigue.” via Its Nice That

okuyamataiki.com

Ceramic Sculptures: Low Pixels CG Series by Toshiya Masuda

September 05, 2018 by Arseny Vesnin in Art, Japan, Portfolios, Sculpture, 2018

Using traditional materials and techniques to achieve a digital effect, Japanese artist Toshiya Masuda makes this cool ceramic pixel art.

"Japanese artist Toshiya Masuda builds pixelated objects out of clay, piecing together sculptural tennis shoes, fried eggs, and baseballs that look as if they have been pulled directly from a video game. By designing his works to appear digital, Masuda provides a physical quality to computer or television-based images. The combination of ceramics and digitized objects allows the artist to blur the line between what is real and virtual, an increasingly common experience in our present age."

﻿Sound Design

Design Process

Using traditional materials and techniques to achieve a digital effect, Japanese artist Toshiya Masuda makes this cool ceramic pixel art.

Sound Design