Tomo-oka's photographs can be described as contemporary Nihonga-style pictures. They represent a new painting form that is carried out not with ink and brushes but using a digital camera then printing the resulting image on handmade paper. All Japanese art consists of one element that artist Takashi Murakami refers to as 'super flat,' which says they do not utilize perspective but present a two-dimensional space instead. Tomo-oka's photographs indeed appear flat, and so continues the tradition. He photographs the area and the composition to embody Rimpa style.
Born in Kyoto in 1971, he often accompanied his father to bamboo groves, bringing him close to nature and plants. He also watched his mother as she delivered the clothes that she had made for her customers. While he was in senior high school, he had a part-time job working as a florist. He became familiar with the flowers used for ikebana and the various blossoming trees and other forms of plant life used to decorate traditional restaurants and inns. During his university years, he worked part-time as a landscaping gardener, providing him with the opportunity to enter the gardens of famous temples, such as Byodoin, or Ryoanji, that are not open to the general public. In the same way that the great artist OGATA Korin (1658 0 1716) learned his skill at design as a result of having been born into a family of kimono merchandise, so Tomo-oka obtained his knowledge of his subjects through these jobs working with plants.
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Moonlit Night
A selection of crafts that celebrates this Otsukimi season 2021年9月2日 - 10月5日The Moon and Japan The moon can be seen faintly against the blue sky as the sun goes down. The waxing and waning of the ...Read more -
Kogei: The Art of Japanese craft
Summer Selections from Ippodo Gallery, New York 2021年8月5日 - 8月27日The Japanese festival of Obon ( お盆) traces back to ancient Chinese and Buddhist rituals that honor one’s ancestors...Read more -
A Lotus in Bloom
The Beauty That Rises 2020年6月10日 - 7月10日Lotus: Beauty that Rises from the Mud Growing out of muddy water, the lotus produces flowers that represent purity and c...Read more
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The Photography Show 2024
Hosted by AIPAD at the Park Avenue Armory 2024年4月25日 - 4月28日NEW YORK, NY — Ippodo Gallery proudly presents contemporary names in Japanese photography at the 43rd edition of the Photography Show, hosted by AIPAD from...Read more -
Conversations from Home Vol.3
Takashi Tomo-oka x Deborah Klochko 2020年6月11日 - 6月11日Featuring: Takashi Tomo-oka, Photographer Deborah Klochko, The Executive Director and Chief Curator at The Museum of Photographic Arts View our Recorded VideoRead more
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Artist Spotlight: Takashi Tomo-oka
The Art of Plant Beauty: Pictorial Revelations 2024年4月23日'Fuji' (藤) Wisteria 5, 2023 by Takashi Tomo-oka Tomo-oka, who initially aspired to become a painter, has found a home in the pictorialism and classical...Read more -
Hinamatsuri 雛祭 March 3
Dolls Day, a Celebration of Health and Happiness for Japanese Girls 2021年3月2日Takashi Tomo-oka, Rape Blossoms 1, A22006 Toward the end of winter in Japan, as reliably as the pale, floating clusters of plum blossoms that mark...Read more -
Tōji 冬至: The Winter Solstice
2020年12月15日Blossoming camellias in shades of pink, white, and red signal the changing seasons and the approaching winter solstice on December 21st. In the short hours...Read more -
Chōyō no sekku | September 9
Chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival 2020年9月8日A deep tradition runs throughout East Asian cultures of ascribing certain numbers and dates with innately auspicious or inauspicious qualities. The balance of Yin (negative)...Read more -
In Detail
Takashi Tomo-oka's Washi Prints 2020年7月21日Washi, Japanese handmade paper, plays a central role in traditional aesthetics. Prized for its translucence, warmth, soft texture, and durability, artists have harnessed washi’s unique...Read more -
Capturing Patience
The Philosophy of Nature in Takashi Tomo-oka's Photography 2020年7月16日Photographer Takashi Tomo-oka instills a philosophy of appreciating nature's beauty as-is into his art practice. His artistic process doesn't begin at the photograph but at...Read more