Hiroko Saegusa
The Beauty of "Wabi-Sabi" Born Between Movement and Stillness
Hiroko Saigusa is a contemporary artist based in Tokyo.
Born in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture in 1978, she began drawing at the age of three and was taught Urasenke tea ceremony by her father from an early age.
This early engagement with the tea ceremony is an important background for understanding Hiroko Saigusa's current art.
The world of tea ceremony encompasses not only splendor and ornamentation, but also stillness, emptiness, simplicity, and a beauty inherent in a fleeting moment.
Hiroko Saigusa connects this unique Japanese aesthetic, "wabi-sabi," to contemporary art expression.
Fusion of "Movement" and "Stillness"
At first glance, Hiroko Saigusa's paintings convey a very strong sense of energy.
Action painting, where she applies paint to the canvas with large bodily movements. The production process itself imprints the movement of the body onto the work.
At the same time, bold empty spaces are left on the canvas.
It is the coexistence of these two seemingly contradictory elements – "intense movement" and "quiet emptiness" – that creates Hiroko Saigusa's unique world of painting.
She combines elements of action painting from American contemporary art with the aesthetics of minimal space in sparse painting.
Physical action reminiscent of Jackson Pollock and a serene spatiality akin to Mark Rothko or Agnes Martin.
A major characteristic of Hiroko Saigusa's paintings is the fusion of these two extremes, "movement" and "stillness," within a single canvas.
Painting with All Five Senses
For Hiroko Saigusa, painting is not merely "something to be seen."
In a tea ceremony, all five senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste – are used to perceive the atmosphere and passage of time in that space.
She incorporates this philosophy into her painting process.
Choosing colors and recognizing shapes.
Feeling the sensation of brushes or bare hands touching the canvas.
Listening to the sound of mixing paints or brushes moving across the surface.
Smelling the paints and canvas.
And sometimes even experimenting with edible paints, incorporating taste into her creative consciousness.
In other words, for Hiroko Saigusa, creation is not just the act of producing visual images, but an act of engaging with the work using her entire body.
Japanese Aesthetics in Contemporary Art
What Hiroko Saigusa aims for is not to merely reproduce traditional "wabi-sabi."
It is to newly present the aesthetic sense and spirituality that have been passed down in Japan for generations through contemporary painting expression.
Leaving deliberate empty spaces amidst intense colors and physical movements.
Creating stillness within a canvas full of energy.
Through this contrast, viewers can pause before the work and turn their attention to the quietness within themselves.
For Hiroko Saigusa, "wabi-sabi" is not just a Japanese aesthetic concept.
It is also a way to regain the quietness and mental space that tend to be lost in modern society.
Delivering "Healing" Through Art
What Hiroko Saigusa values most in her creative process is delivering "healing" to the viewer.
While her works possess strong energy, they also contain quiet empty spaces.
These empty spaces bring peace to the viewer's heart.
This is similar to the different flow of time one feels when in a tea room, distinct from everyday life.
At her solo exhibition "WABI SABI IN ACTION" held at Gallery 60 NYC in New York in 2024, curator Kyoko Sato described Hiroko Saigusa's work as having "turbulent energy" coexisting with "contrasting stillness = wabi-sabi."
And she positions Hiroko Saigusa's aim in art as healing people through her works and guiding them towards inner peace and a bright future.
Expanding Activities Overseas
Hiroko Saigusa has actively exhibited her work not only in Japan but also overseas.
In 2019, she held solo exhibitions at ARTIFFACT Gallery in New York and G&J Gallery in Seoul.
She has also participated in various international exhibitions in New York, Vienna, Athens, Venice, Miami, Gwangju (South Korea), and more.
Key participating exhibitions include "Stepping Into A World" in New York, "Neo-Japonisme" at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the 12th Gwangju Biennale "Imaginary Boundaries," "SURFACES" in Venice, and "SPECTRUM" in Miami.
As an Artist, As a Designer
Hiroko Saigusa is not an artist whose activities are limited solely to painting.
In 2000, she graduated at the top of her class from the Department of Visual Communication Design at Toyo Art School, and in 2003, she enrolled in the Graphic Design Department at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London.
While in London in 2007, she was commissioned by Maya Fiennes, a musician and renowned yoga guru, to design the stage costumes and flyers for "PLANET MAYA."
Furthermore, in 2017, she established the fashion brand "HIROCO Japan."
These engagements with different genres such as design, fashion, and music also connect to Hiroko Saigusa's current free and physical painting expression.
Hiroko Saigusa's Art
Hiroko Saigusa's works contain both intense energy and quiet empty spaces.
They are both dynamic and still, strong and gentle.
The coexistence of these contradictory sensations within a single canvas is a major charm of her work.
The aesthetic of "wabi-sabi" nurtured within Japan's tea ceremony culture.
The influence of action painting and minimalism from American contemporary art.
And her unique creative method of engaging with painting using her entire body.
Through the intersection of these elements, Hiroko Saigusa's unique contemporary paintings are born.
When standing before her work, what first catches the eye may be the colors and movements.
However, if one looks at the "empty spaces" left behind, there is a stillness.
And within that stillness, a moment arises for one to confront their own heart.
It is precisely that time that Hiroko Saigusa seeks to deliver through her works.
Hiroko Saigusa
Born in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture in 1978
Artist and diviner based in Tokyo
Began drawing at age 3 and was taught Urasenke tea ceremony by her father.
2000 Graduated at the top of her class from the Department of Visual Communication Design, Toyo Art School
2003 Enrolled in the Graphic Design Department, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London
2007 Designed stage costumes and flyers for "PLANET MAYA" in London
2017 Founded the fashion brand "HIROCO Japan"
2020 Appeared on BS Fuji's "Break Zenya"
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 ARTIFFACT Gallery / New York
2019 G&J Gallery / Seoul
2016 Bar Foxy in Shibuya / Tokyo
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 "Stepping Into A World" Gallery Max / New York
2019 "Neo-Japonisme" Schönbrunn Palace / Vienna
2019 44th Japan Week / Athens
2019 "Creators - Artists of the Heisei Era and Beyond -" 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
2018 "SPECTRUM" Agora Gallery / Miami
2018 12th Gwangju Biennale "Imaginary Boundaries" / Gwangju, Korea
2018 "SURFACES" Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi / Venice
2018 24th Contemporary Art Japan-Korea Exhibition / Tokyo
2016–2018 "Gen-ten" The National Art Center / Tokyo
2017–2018 Japan-China-Korea Art Exhibition / Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
2015 "ARTRATES JAPAN" Hive Gallery / Los Angeles
1999 "PARK OF THE FUTURE" International Museum of Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1999 Kobi Ren Exhibition / Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art
*The above biography and exhibition history are based on provided materials.
Evaluation by New York Curator Kyoko Sato
In discussing Hiroko Saigusa's work, the presence of Kyoko Sato, a New York-based curator, is also important.
Kyoko Sato is a curator, art consultant, and editor based in New York, who introduces Japanese culture and contemporary art from an international perspective.
She facilitated the "Ancient Egypt Exhibition: Queens and Goddesses" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with the Asahi Shimbun. At WhiteBox, an art space in New York, she established the Asian department and served as its director from 2018 to 2021.
She also curated the historical exhibition "A Colossal World: Japanese Artists and New York, 1950s–Present," which introduced 55 Japanese artists including Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, Shigeko Kubota, Hiroshi Senju, Takashi Murakami, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Tomokazu Matsuyama, making her a figure who has introduced Japanese contemporary art to the New York art scene.
Since 2023, she has been developing the "Japan Contemporaries Series" with Genichi Adachi, actively working to introduce Japanese contemporary artists to the international art scene in New York.
"WABI SABI IN ACTION"
Hiroko Saigusa's solo exhibition "WABI SABI IN ACTION," held at Gallery 60 NYC in New York in June 2024, was realized through the curation of Kyoko Sato.
In this exhibition, Sato perceives Saigusa's work as connecting "wabi-sabi," nurtured by Japanese tea ceremony culture, with action painting from American contemporary art. The essence of Saigusa's work is also reflected in the exhibition itself being named "WABI SABI IN ACTION."
According to Sato, at first glance, Hiroko Saigusa's works possess intense energy.
However, "empty spaces" are simultaneously left on the canvas, creating stillness.
This is deeply connected to the tranquility of the tea room and the different flow of time from daily life that Hiroko Saigusa experienced from her childhood, having been raised within the Urasenke tea ceremony tradition.
In other words, Hiroko Saigusa's work is not merely abstract expression or action painting.
By fusing "wabi-sabi," a traditional Japanese aesthetic, with the physical expression of Western contemporary art, she makes contradictory elements of "movement" and "stillness" coexist within a single canvas.
Kyoko Sato discovered this "turbulent energy" and "stillness" within the works, seeing in them the potential for Hiroko Saigusa's unique expression.
And what Hiroko Saigusa aims to achieve through her work is to bring peace to the viewer's heart and lead them to healing.
The 2024 New York solo exhibition was an important opportunity to demonstrate that Hiroko Saigusa's works, while having a background in Japanese culture, also hold unique significance on the international contemporary art stage of New York.
Kyoko Sato continues to be based in New York, promoting Japanese artists on the international stage. Her collaboration with Hiroko Saigusa can be seen as a symbolic initiative to convey traditional Japanese aesthetics as contemporary art to the world.