Edited by: Janani Mahadevan
Mizuno Rina is a young Japanese artist who is changing the face of abstract and contemporary art in many small but meaningful ways. I had the absolute pleasure of being able to go to one of her exhibitions in Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo back in 2019, when that kind of thing was even possible. The best part of her art is that from the very beginning, you know you are in for something absolutely special.
Placed in Ginza — the fashion district of Tokyo — you come off a street filled with expensive, elaborate buildings and people. There are brilliant flowers being sold at astoundingly high prices and buildings with shapes that would belong in a museum, only to house department stores. The art gallery, in comparison, is small and not even noteworthy. If you didn’t know better, you would not know of the kind of quiet brilliance that exists inside — away from the flashy rooftop galleries and brilliantly coloured buildings that cover the rest of the district.
When you see it, Mizuno Rina’s work leaps off the canvas. It is installation art contained within large coverings of cloth that surrounds and engulfs you even as you stare at it from the requisite 5 metres away.
Rina’s philosophy is to never be able to look at a whole, that you cannot look the universe in its mouth. You cannot see all of this planet we call home in one go, and likewise you cannot ever take in a Mizuno Rina painting in its entirety. There is something all-encompassing about her paintings, making you feel like you are living in their world even as you gaze at them from afar. She uses interesting textures and colour palettes that conjure up pictures that are not there at the surface level — of enchanted forests and fairy tale-esque dreams.
If you ever get the opportunity to visit one of her galleries, you would know exactly what I mean. 11/10 would recommend!