About the artist
Asako Iwasawa is a contemporary Japanese painter from Akabane, Tokyo. She graduated from Tama Art University’s Department of Design, after which she established a design studio with a friend and collaborated with Water Studio. During this time, Iwasawa discovered a passion for kimono design and joined the batik studio Kimono Studio Dye Laboratory. Iwasawa spent 10 years living in the countryside, indulging her love for nature. Working as a farmer, she became intimately acquainted with the equally beautiful and harsh realities of the natural world. Though she returned to the city, she brought the vivid world of insects, plants, and natural beauty back with her.
Iwasawa looks beyond the physical reality of the natural world and portrays the spirit of nature in her paintings. In her words, “nature is full of thrills and wonders that fuel my imagination.” As she treads the boundary between imagination and landscape, she challenges the viewer's sense of place. Named the 2018 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence, a selection of Asako Iwasawa's paintings can be found here at Ronin Gallery.