Kaeru Tsukino

Kaeru Tsukino is a contemporary artist born in Tokyo in 1963. Originally employed as a systems engineer at an IT company, she began creating digital illustrations alongside her professional career in 2009. In 2014, she started working as a 3D artist, and in 2019 she left her former position to devote herself fully to her artistic practice. Since then, she has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and art fairs both in Japan and abroad, including in Tokyo and Nagoya as well as in South Korea and China, and has received several honors such as jury selections and special awards.

Tsukino’s works are distinctive semi-three-dimensional mixed-media pieces that combine layered digital illustrations with materials such as transparent resin. Illustrations drawn digitally are layered multiple times and constructed spatially, then combined with materials like clear resin and acrylic to create compositions with a sense of depth and floating lightness.

Her practice is guided by the concepts of “diversity,” in which varied materials express their individual qualities to form a unique world, and “fusion,” which enables expressions that move freely between genres without being confined to any single category.

3D art is a mode of expression that constructs visual surfaces through elements such as overlapping forms, thickness, and the reflection and shadow of light. It is characterized by the way subtle variations in relief, distance, and texture generate nuanced impressions. As the viewer’s perspective and the direction of light change, so too does the work’s appearance, conveying a quiet presence and delicate sensibility. While evoking tactile imagery and a sense of atmosphere, 3D art can also exist with a sensibility close to that of two-dimensional expression.

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