Amanatsu Aono
A dignified presence. If one were to describe the works of Amanatsu Aono (b. 1973 in Hokkaido) in a single phrase, this would come to mind first. Her compositions are crisp and clean, featuring vibrant and lively depictions of people, plants, and animals. Overflowing with elegance yet brimming with playfulness, her artworks uplift the viewer's spirit.
Details beyond the main motifs are rendered with highly symbolic, simplified expressions. This approach enhances the cool, modern tone of her work, highlighting its strikingly design-oriented beauty. While using traditional Japanese painting techniques, Aono seamlessly integrates contemporary motifs and modern expressions into her art.
Largely self-taught in classical Japanese painting techniques, Amanatsu Aono creates her own unique fantasy worlds with a flowing yet delicate brushwork. She reinterprets the traditions of Japanese painting in her own way, crafting simple compositions featuring vibrant, nostalgic, and fairy-like modern Japanese women.
Aono approaches her work as if painting a dream, striving to faithfully and carefully depict what she herself wishes to see. Her works are created using traditional Japanese painting techniques, specifically “shihon saishiki (coloring on handmade paper)”, using materials such as washi paper, sumi ink, suihi pigments and mineral pigments.
These paintings are crafted in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, a city renowned as a hub for traditional Japanese crafts.
Biography of Aono Amanatsu
1973: Born in Hokkaido, Japan
Graduated: Hokkaido Women's Junior College, Department of Craft and Fine Arts
Awards and Recognitions
2011: Received the Outstanding Work Award at the 30th Sompo Japan Foundation Selected Encouragement Exhibition (FACE Exhibition)
2013: Selected for the VOCA Exhibition (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo)
2015: Selected for the 6th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Nihonga Grand Prize Exhibition (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo)
2018: Selected for the 7th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Nihonga Grand Prize Exhibition (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo)
2019: Received the Hokkaido Cultural Encouragement Award (Sapporo)