The award-winning, Vancouver-based Japanese Pop artist – Tadaomi Kawasaki gives Singulart the inside track on his niche new project, and explains why you might need a set of wheels to appreciate it.
What is your newest series, exhibition (or ongoing project)?
A Belgian rally driver called Thierry Neuville in WRC is helping a charity event. The concept is called Art Helmet and the idea is to create a helmet painted by exceptional artists on 4 events in the World Rally Championship. They have selected 4 emblematic events, starting with the Monte Carlo Rally, on 4 continents. The other rallies are Safari Rally Kenya, the Rally of Chile, and the Rally of Japan. The artists are coming from one of the continents where the race is organized. All profits are donated to a local charity chosen by the artist. And I was selected for the Rally of Japan. I am painting a Canvas for the Art Helmet.
What was or is the inspiration or concept behind this new series or exhibition?
At first, I thought flower paintings would be perfect for the helmet design. How beautiful would it be to have flowers painted on a helmet? It would look glamorous and splendid as if it were celebrating a successful race and charity.
When I looked at past helmet designs, I felt that the colors to be placed on the helmet needed to be vivid and have a strong impact.
Simply putting the cherry blossom, the symbolic flower of Japan, on the helmet as it is would not have enough impact. Therefore, I came up with the idea of expressing cherry blossoms using a variety of colors. That is “Multiverse Blossom.
What’s the message behind your new series or exhibition?
I think it is good to have cherry blossoms in various colors. It may be realized in the multiverse. I depicted the moment when those multiverse intersect into one, a fusion with momentum, and energy is born.
The radial lines represent speed, the petals are clothed in a pattern that symbolizes Japan, commemorating the WRC to be held in Japan, and Nishikigoi carp gather around the flowers, their appearance reminding us of Japanese spectators watching the race. I depicted cherry blossoms in such a speedy, multidimensional universe.
What’s your personal highlight of the series or latest exhibition?
This is a charity project and all profits will be donated to local charities.
I painted the original design for the helmet, which will make both the donator and the recipient happy. By decorating the helmet with the symbolic flower of Japan, “Sakura”, in a variety of colors, the design celebrates this WRC event in Japan and gives a sense of speed to the event so that it can be a good race.
I believe that this painting commemorates the race in Japan.
If you encountered any challenges during the creation of this series or holding your latest exhibition, how did you manage to overcome them?
This painting was not completed by simply completing the painting, but since it was to be used as the basis for a helmet design, it was necessary to think about what the painting would look like when placed on a helmet. I decided on “cherry blossoms,” which radiate from the center of the canvas because I wanted the painting to have a sense of speed no matter which part of the canvas I crop out. Simply painting a single pink flower would not feel like my style, so I decided to incorporate my own style into the painting. The answer was the keyword “colorful. This colorfulness is the symbol of my style, and it was also ideal for the helmet design. I also came up with the idea of cherry blossoms in the multivers to break the notion that cherry blossoms are pink flowers.
Furthermore, my style of applying thick layers of ink inevitably creates shadows when the picture is scanned, which is not suitable for the helmet design. I needed to use a variety of colors while keeping the image as flat as possible, so I decided to use fluid ink, which has become a major part of my style recently. Fluid ink controls the mixing of colors, and the beautiful color schemes created by chance at the end of the process are symbolic of WRC racing, where instantaneous decisions can change the outcome. It was my challenge to express and control a variety of cherry blossoms with this fluid ink, and I am satisfied with the result obtained by chance.
How would you recommend a visitor to experience your creation?
This painting is a helmet design for the WRC’s Japan tour and is a charity project. Helmets will be sold and all profits will be donated to charity.
I recommend that you purchase a commemorative helmet for the Japan Tour to experience this painting.
What kind of engagement or interaction do you hope to have with your audience?
Like this project, I hope to interact with an audience that is looking for event-specific painting designs and location-specific paintings for cafes, restaurants, hotels, and other venues. To have my paintings seen by many people without having to go to an expensive gallery, to have new encounters born from such encounters, to have my painted art bring change to a space and heal people’s hearts, that is what I am seeking, and to realize this, I would like to create a space where charity can be realized through my paintings, as in this project. I want to be involved with an audience that makes it possible and makes people happy.
What kind of engagement or interaction do you hope to have with your audience?
Like this project, I hope to interact with an audience that is looking for event-specific painting designs and location-specific paintings for cafes, restaurants, hotels, and other venues. To have my paintings seen by many people without having to go to an expensive gallery, to have new encounters born from such encounters, to have my painted art bring change to a space and heal people’s hearts, that is what I am seeking, and to realize this, I would like to create a space where charity can be realized through my paintings, as in this project. I want to be involved with an audience that makes it possible and makes people happy.
What’s next for you? Are you already working on a new series or project?
The next project will be nine paintings for a newly opened restaurant in the Hokkaido resort town of Niseko. The nine paintings will be based on the theme of Hokkaido’s wilderness and incorporate my own style, making the space impressive and rich. This will be my next challenge.
I will also paint a portrait of the president of a company to be displayed in the company building of a certain company in the large and popular “Abstract portrait” style. I plan to create a portrait of the president of a successful business, a painting that will have an impact and create a bright atmosphere to be displayed at the entrance of the company building.
The Singulart editors know Kawasaki’s work best on the canvas – with photorealistic digital paint and traditional acrylics – straddling the worlds of pop art and Impressionism. But for artists like him, art is rarely contained to the boundaries of the wooden frame. It is fascinating to see his process in creating a piece for a rally driver’s helmet. His masterful use of fluid ink, for example, and his method for producing the impression of speed. It is also refreshing to understand how Kawasaki envisions this project in a broader context. This is not just admirable charity work, he sees this as a chance to democratise his work, putting it in mainstream spaces, and making it more accessible than if it were in an “expensive gallery.”
You can explore his work in more conventional forms on Singulart, here.
