“MOE” ART

“In the moment I lost something, when I realise something is missing, or when I am engulfed in some unexpected, drastic changes in circumstance, feeling a greater or lesser extent of loss, I wonder about people, myself, and what it is we're supposed to be looking for. If it is existence itself that has been lost by our ambiguous selves, what we seek might not actually outside of the ‘I’ of the individual, but perhaps it lies inside.”- Moe Nakamura

Contemporary art in Japan has infinite potential, and for Moe Nakamura, a contemporary Japanese artist recently in the spotlight, the Tokyo art scene today is on a rapid ascent, set to spur a whirlwind of rejuvenation. Nakamura's art practice focuses on warmly hand-carved figures: sculptural works marked by the unique way the notches and grains of the wood are preserved. Her works are filled with youthful wit and soothing textures — cute but not conforming to the clichéd and exaggerated moulds. They stand out for that, for their sincerity, their quiet breath that leads viewers into a kind of enchanting fantasy land from the pages of a children's story. After taking time with her works, it becomes apparent that embedded under the all so childish surface layer is a social commentary on loneliness and isolation. Nakamura explores this in relation to the value of an individual's existence within a society of rapidly spread information. Or perhaps, Nakamura speaks more to people in a society of rapid information who are always next to a smartphone and online, expressing the interpersonal struggles experienced by so many people in contemporary society, and doing so in an understated, low-key fashion with the relatively accessible language of art. This contributed to her work drawing closer to and resonating with the hearts of people today.