Miki Kato Artbook: Enchanted Flames of a Hundred Flowers
Product Description
Miki Kato is known for painting mysterious, otherworldly women who appear in the boundary between this world and the next. While many artists create portraits of beautiful women, it is rare to find one who captures such profound allure and powerful beauty. This long-awaited first art book presents the essence of her vision for international readers.
From women seated on a shrine torii gate to figures riding on the backs of mythical beasts, Kato’s heroines honor nature and all living things, echoing the animistic spirit of ancient Shinto and its “eight million gods.” At the same time, she tenderly depicts everyday moments: a girl sensing the first hint of spring in a winter wind, or a woman dozing at her sewing machine as summer air billows the curtains. In both the supernatural and the ordinary, her women remain pure, vibrant, and full of hidden fire, revealing how the otherworld and daily life are connected within the human soul.
This debut collection is structured in two parts: the first chapter focuses on enigmatic beauties of the spirit world, while the second reveals delicate expressions of women in daily life. Using gouache on Watson paper rather than traditional mineral pigments on washi, Kato revives the gods, spirits, and sacred beasts of animism in a strikingly contemporary style. As contemporary artist Tenmyouya Hisashi notes, her work resurrects these presences with fresh intensity for the Reiwa era, and curator Keiko Nakamura of Yayoi Museum praises Kato as a modern shaman-artist who channels the voice of the divine through her paintings.
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Description
Product Description
Miki Kato is known for painting mysterious, otherworldly women who appear in the boundary between this world and the next. While many artists create portraits of beautiful women, it is rare to find one who captures such profound allure and powerful beauty. This long-awaited first art book presents the essence of her vision for international readers.
From women seated on a shrine torii gate to figures riding on the backs of mythical beasts, Kato’s heroines honor nature and all living things, echoing the animistic spirit of ancient Shinto and its “eight million gods.” At the same time, she tenderly depicts everyday moments: a girl sensing the first hint of spring in a winter wind, or a woman dozing at her sewing machine as summer air billows the curtains. In both the supernatural and the ordinary, her women remain pure, vibrant, and full of hidden fire, revealing how the otherworld and daily life are connected within the human soul.
This debut collection is structured in two parts: the first chapter focuses on enigmatic beauties of the spirit world, while the second reveals delicate expressions of women in daily life. Using gouache on Watson paper rather than traditional mineral pigments on washi, Kato revives the gods, spirits, and sacred beasts of animism in a strikingly contemporary style. As contemporary artist Tenmyouya Hisashi notes, her work resurrects these presences with fresh intensity for the Reiwa era, and curator Keiko Nakamura of Yayoi Museum praises Kato as a modern shaman-artist who channels the voice of the divine through her paintings.
