▷ Jardin de roses au mur 2 ou Yokaï by Nao Kaneko, 2020 | Plaster Paintings Brand New

I took photographs of a garden of creeping roses. I composed two of these photographs, of equal dimensions, pasted in layers: the result is a horizontal line in the middle of the pictorial plane, which is traditionally, even graphically, considered forbidden.

I painted using this composition as a reference, printed on paper, placed next to my easel. A large rose is at the bottom, a small one, almost a bud, at the top of the canvas. The superimposition of layers of color and plaster creates relief materials. Increasingly rich, they give the specific character to my very personal technique.

Suddenly, I wanted to add a flat color that had nothing to do with reality, or even the opposite. Black, rare in my palette, gives a view of the night, a mysterious atmosphere and a Japanese connotation that inspired me; I then imagined the world of chimerical spirits, the yokai, as they are called in Japan. A bit like Japanese prints, a bit like manga: a Japanese mysticism appeared. I added the word “Yokai” to the title of this painting, and thus I completed my work.