MITSURU ANDO

STATEMENT

Mitsuru Ando is a Tokyo-based painter inspired by biology and Eastern medicine. Stylistically his work pulls from traditional Suiboku-ga and Rin-ha styles, with a focus on giant tree worship, tiny biomes and slime molds that fight on a cellular level. Describing his work as “a new type of Japanese painting that depicts algorithms of natural form,” Mitsuru employs sweeping brushstrokes to capture geographical elements such as mountains and forests rising in the mist — similar to ancient Chinese painters — not as an attempt to copy nature, but to create the rhythm of nature and the ideal landscape through international touches and blotches of pigment.

From late night strolls and flowers photographed along the road, to vacations on Yakushima Island, motifs in both every day and extraordinary situations inform Mitsuru’s process. Beginning with primed canvas, Mitsuru outlines the framework of the pieces with traditional calligraphy brushes and ink; afterwards, creating his fanatical microspheres, primarily, with acrylic paint. His distinct attention to negative space allows the viewer’s imagination to dance from branch to branch, filling the void with their own encounters.