Sponsored | Sonoko Nakajima
The abstract paintings by Sonoko Nakajima are self-portraits. Her technique applies the principles of Steiner education, which she pursued for many years as an educator, to herself. This approach, as a comprehensive art form that engages with each individual’s unique emotions and will, allows her to embrace her own personality fully and express it in her paintings.
However, when we talk about these works as self-portraits, it’s not her physical body that she depicts. Instead, she paints the existence within her, the universe, her inner self and spirituality, and her life itself. The themes of her work can be expressed in words such as “the pursuit of life,” “the liberation of the soul,” “repose,” “forgiveness and healing,” “peace of mind,” and “the inner universe.”
In her creative process, the cycle of “creation, destruction, rebirth, and fusion” is organically practiced. The first color is chosen based on her intuition at that moment. Each stage is then allowed to rest and mature.
The process of creating this work is like a drama of life. In “Line Vol. 1” (2024), the screen was dominated by nostalgic greens and yellows, with black lines running across them, as if reminiscing about past life. Later, red, white, and gray were added, and further scratching occurred. In “Line Vol. 2” (2024), the initial depiction was of a garden in green and red, evoking a sense of healing and tranquility for the life lived so far. This is creation. The pain of creation is present there. Over time, through destruction, regeneration, and fusion, blue and yellow were added, with black undulations being represented, and the work was completed. This process takes time and culminates in the pinnacle of fusion. And thus, the work is finished
Nakajima’s paintings are a mature expression unique to her, projecting her life itself onto the canvas.
Nakajima’s works were selected as an honorable mention in the exhibition “Japan Contemporaries Series 8, Juried Open Call, Stepping Into A World,” curated by Motoichi Adachi and Kyoko Sato in 2024, held at Gallery Max New York. Kiyoko Kouyama (1936-2023), a potter in Shiga, told her, “Create works in the shapes and colors that you truly love from your heart. Let’s have fun making them while singing songs,” which inspired Nakajima to become a painter. She taught arts and crafts in elementary schools in Shiga prefecture. She received a BA in Education from the Literature School at Bukkyo University in Kyoto in 1986.