Makoto Fujimura

An ecosystem of six books Art is ___? Six books. One lifelong question. Refractions — Art is a way of seeing. Culture Care — Art is nourishment. Silence and Beauty — Art is hidden witness. Art+Faith — Art is making in the image of the Maker. Art Is — Art is finding the light in the darkest of realms. Beauty × Justice — Art is redemptive action. Each began as a fragment. Together, they form an ecosystem — well, not a system, but a living whole. Each one feeds the others. Each sentence leads into the rest. If you’ve read one, you’ve already entered. If you haven’t yet, any door opens the room. Order through link in bio. @yalebooks @ivpress @navpressbooks @brazospress #ArtAndFaith  #CultureCare  #BeautyAndJustice  #MakotoFujimura #ArtIs

“Golden Cascade -Joy” ©️2023MakotoFujimura 48x60”, Mineral Pigments, Gold on canvas. Currently exhibited at @alien_art_centre with @shozomichikawa ’s dynamic ceramics. Curated by @pinkjenn and organized by @yamanshao Grateful for @artrue.asia and @ginnyhuchien as well as @haejinshim for production. The exhibit is up until summer 2026. Grace cascades into our lives and fractured hearts, emanating glow of golden remnants. #ArtIs As the 2023 proved to be a fruitful year, writing “Art Is: A Journey into the Light” @yalepress as my fifth book, I produced many works that created a cascade of “remnant” gold, a technique that developed to take advantage of the microscopically thin Japanese Kanazawa gold leaf.

Art is labor, and a song. I initially posted this on Labor Day in US. I thought it might surprise many that I use the same type of rollers that ordinary folks (like me) labor to paint their homes with, to spread precious mineral pigments (with nard-like aroma mixed in). I did not think this will go viral. Thank you for over 250k (!) views since… My bride @haejinshim took this at my live painting (Chelsea NYC), nearly two years ago, this while @susie.ibarra played (now a @pulitzerprizes winner!). @_windrider also live recorded which you can see on my other posts. This video is just a beginning of the live performance and the beginning of layering. I was interested in the sound of the drips and @jakelandau put a microphone underneath the canvas to capture the “percussive” sounds to overlap with Susie’s percussive improv. Yes, I am wearing white pants and shoes intentionally (thanks for asking!) I discovered this “technique” of using a large roller while preparing for @allsaintspton liturgical panels. I wanted the pigments to flow without interruption and found a way to pour pigments into the cavity of the tube so the minerals flow like regular paint. It’s literally #gravityandgrace painting. One thing I learned from #jacksonpollock paintings is that his “action paintings” are not “abstract” as much as they are figurative, bodily expressions. They are literally a dance, requiring the expression to create grace via gravity. Also projected onto my “Sea Beyond” painting is @sproctor drone driven images (he is VJing in the back) This is just a start of layering that I used as a “performance” piece. The live begins with me beholding a “Fumi-e” used in @martinscorsese_ film “Silence”. The progress of this work can be seen in other videos and photos posted here. Actually, it takes about five years for pigments to settle, so it’s not quite “finished” even now. June, 2025 note: Congrats to Susie for winning the @pulitzerprizes !!! #shinjapanesepainting #shinnihonga #minerals #art #collaboration #visualjazz #slowart #膠 #livepainting #livepaintings @yalebooks_team Produced by Culture Care Creative, Inc.

“Walking on Water—Banquo’s Dream”, 7x11’(©️MakotoFujimura2012) was inspired by his son playing Banquo in a @bucknellu production of Macbeth. The Walking on Water works, featuring materials like oyster shell, gold, azurite and platinum on linen, explore themes of light, hope, and “prophetic vision” amidst the darkness. #slowart #macbeth #artis #shinnihonga #postdestruction

Sometimes we catch a glimpse of the sublime, out of Uber window to the airport. Constable skies of rural UK, so paintable and breathable vision. #Slowart #ArtIs #nihonga #landscape @nyc_goldenwood

“Gofun technique is one of the hardest technique to master. It requires pulverizing Oyster Shells into fine powder, and mixing them in to a glue using mortar and pestle. The resulting white mixture has one of the most magical, unique qualities of white. Depending on the treatment, the artist can control the opacity and transparency at the same time. In other words, one can paint a whole spectrum of ‘colors’ using one material. The ‘Sea Beyond’ triptych has over a hundred layers, but in order to appreciate that, the viewer will need to slow down, as our eyes are driven to make quick interpretations. The layers are done with semi-transparent layers, so in the initial glance, one would not see the layers. I was 80% done with the layering when I found myself in Newport Beach invited by dear friends and collectors to spend time in this beautiful site. That was when I received a call from my brother notifying me that my mother had passed away suddenly in Los Gatos, where she was, for many years, suffering from heavy dementia. Every time I visited her, I could see that her memory was fading away, so it felt like I was saying good bye to her. But physically she was doing well, and we were surprised that God had taken her, out of mercy, one evening. I went to the beach to pray, looking at the horizon of Newport Beach. And it occurred to me to ask ‘what is beyond the horizon?’ I meant not figuratively, but literally. I took out my smartphone and Googled, and was astonished to discover that from the vantage point where I stood, Sea Beyond was directly looking at Kamakura, Japan.” A Mother’s Day reflections from “Art and Faith: A Journey into the Light” @ydsbookstore #slowart #shinnihonga #gofun

Mako’s “Art Is: A Journey into the Light” @yalebooks is available at @tate Tate Modern Museum shop in London. Our U.K. friends can get your copy there. If Tate is out of inventory, ask them to get more copies. Thank you! #culturecare #artis

“Art Is: A Journey into the Light” @yalepress has been a journey indeed, finding this book in unexpected places and in people’s hands all over the world. @bucknellu

Ever since I moved into #Fujifarm almost 15 years ago, I’ve began to connect my art with the trees, flowers and birds (and other creatures). Taking care of the land became part of my art. I speak of this journey in “Art Is: A Journey into the Light” @yalebooks People have told me that they were surprised that I do paintings that are not “abstract”. I’ve always said I am not an abstract painter. I am trying to essentiate what I see, and re-presenting them. Here’s an apricot tree that blossomed beautifully this year, and my way to capture the splendor using #nihonga materials. Trying to get to the essence of such splendor using oyster shell (gofun) and pulverized azurite. #slowart #artis

@Estuarygallery in Fort Lee NJ is a gallery run by @haejinshim to showcase my works and 16 other artists. But it is, as we note in “Beauty and Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance and Courage” @brazospress , a place where law practice meets art. We have seen many difficult mediation cases be resolved because of the healing environment. #beautyxjustice

I have been painting and writing: pondering on what makes memories of fragile birds so potent and resonant. Why is it that the tree swallows are so regular, arriving with their twilling water sounds ahead of them, a delight to my ears and eyes? Why such feeling of forlorn longing when they leave Fuji Farm, flying back for thousands of miles? Why, if the arrival and departure seems like regular clockwork, their early arrival also signal the encroachment of climate change (this year, especially, they came way too early)? Art is a longing, seen and heard, in the arcing gestures trailed by dark malachite tails, lines drawn in the cerulean skies. #artis #treeswallow #malachite #visualpoetry #journeyintothelight

“The Tears of the Light” Mineral Pigments, Gold, and Mica on Canvas 80 x 64 in ©️MakotoFujimura2018 In a world stricken with many tears, the Light shine in the darkness, and wept with us. Exhibited right now at @alien_art_centre museum in Taiwan is this large painting, full of prismatic light, emanating upon viewers. @shozomichikawa san’s ceramic pieces stand with my work there, reflecting together on “Dust and Gold” exhibit. #slowart #shinnihonga #jesuswept #artis