A reclining figure in a floral garment fills the narrow vertical picture plane. Folded arms, fingers resting near the lips, and closed eyelids create an intimate moment suspended between sleep and wakefulness. The repeated flower patterns are both an ornament enveloping the figure and a quiet rhythm extending across the entire composition.
Since I began painting women, I have realized that I find beauty less in physical form than in a person’s bearing and way of life—qualities I can respect. She is slightly older than I am, a grounded and capable woman whom I admired regardless of my position as an artist. I made this work because I wanted to preserve the gentle atmosphere of her presence, so well suited to the soft pink yukata she wore.
Nanami Shimoju was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, in 1995 and graduated in 2019 from the Japanese Painting course at Joshibi University of Art and Design. Working with traditional nihonga materials such as white hemp paper, sumi ink, and mineral pigments, she values the distance and relationship between artist and model, allowing an inner presence to emerge through gesture, gaze, clothing, and surrounding space. She appeared in episode 165 of BS Fuji’s Break Zenya and has presented her work in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and department stores in Japan.