“Japanese Flowers”

At Kyoto Seika University, Nao Morigo studied western painting but also engraving, pottery, lacquer and jewelry design. And as an artist she expended her palette to include calligraphy and nihonga. So it’s no surprise that her expertise in a vast range of materials, both Japanese and Western, are one of her keys to creating her beautiful miniature collages.

“Pond”

In a new body of work, Morigo created a series of collages that were framed by accordion-folding scrolls that appear to freely collapse and expand like traditional scrolls. The collages themselves are made from a variety of materials including brass, copper, etchant (a corrosive chemical used in etching) and Yuzen washi paper. And each depict elements of nature – things that have been on this planet for ages – to portray the interwovenness of time.

Morigo received first runner up in the 2017 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence Program, for which Spoon & Tamago was a judge. The collages will be on display in a group exhibition this summer at the Ronin Gallery in New York.

“Hurricane Lily”

 

“Suma (Battle of ichi no tani and now)”

the work “Kyoto” stands in stark contrast with the others, but works to ground the series in a certain period of time