Yuma Yoshimura

Tell me a little bit about you!

I’m Yuma Yoshimura from Tokyo. I studied printmaking at a university of the arts, but I paint murals and do studio works now.

What do you like about painting murals, in addition to your studio work?

It’s communication of the outdoors, and almost all murals are outdoors, so there are many relationships with people. It’s very fun, and very important for myself.

When did you first discover art, or realize you wanted to make it yourself?

I found my art as a high school student.

What ideas are you exploring in your practice?

I study life of human in recently, and I change my work toward literature and stories.

Are there particular stories you are interested in?

“Group dynamics” of Scipio Sighele

What is your process like?

I have some series of my works, and I study them as stories always, and I draw everyday, so I find my idea from my sketchbook. My themes are group and alienation right now. I can finish one work 3 or 5 days.

How important is your sketchbook in your work?

It is like washing, toothbrushing, the shower in my life.

Do you have a mentor, or a piece of advice (or both), which has influenced your practice?

My artist friend’s advise to me, “Roughing-out is very important,” so I think back on it in work, and in progress.

Describe your studio.

My studio is my house, I occupy the living room, but I want a bigger studio in future.

What do you find most daunting, challenging, or frustrating about pursuing art?

It’s context of works, and it is polish and rough-planed balance, also mural and studio works. Any way, the balance of them.

If you could sit down for dinner or a drink with anyone, who would it be and what would you chat about?

I eat with my wife in every night, and we talk about news in the world.

What do you do when you find yourself in a creative rut?

I sketch, and I writing the text of an idea; I let something reflect it.

What do you love most about your medium? What challenges or surprises you most about it?

I love the acrylic, and wood panel, and the challenges of the amount of water, or balance.

What do you need or value most as an artist?

It’s patience and study.

What keeps you creating?

I think, it’s Myself; I paint on something, but I wanna create the Other Self.

What are you working on right now?

I wanna paint murals, but I paint studio works recently, and I study seriously for my works every day. And I am painting “Alienation and solidarity” just now.

Anything else you would like to add?: I wanna to send my works and my concept from Tokyo to the world. It’s very important for the future of the Japanese art scene. I want to let the art of Japan activate more, and I want to lose the borders of world art.

Find more at yumanizumu.jp and on Instagram @yuma_yoshimura!

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