Art Stage Singapore 2017: Kunihiko Nohara

A man in a swim cap and goggles – showing his patriotism with a small Japanese flag – enveloped in a full-length, ketchup-adorned omurice robe.  A series of sketches, eventually turned into sculptures, of humans floating in the steam and foam of cappuccino cups and soup bowls.  Another man (or maybe the same one in the omurice robe?) nestled in the confines of an egg shell.

Hokkaido-born and Hiroshima-trained artist Kunihiko Nohara cheekily explores what happens when the everyday ephemeral, notably in the form of consumable food and beverages, takes over one’s existence.  But rather than portray this as a negative, Nohara takes the opposite approach.  His subjects seem to enjoy escaping into the seemingly mundane details of a daily routine, almost treating these departures from reality as one would a trip to the onsen.  Their eyes are often covered, and even though they appear to be drowning in their larger-than-life provisions, they don’t seem to mind letting what they should in fact be consuming, happily consume them instead.

Artist: Kunihiko Nohara
Tropical Blend
Camphor Tree (2016)
SGD$95,000
(photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Artist: Kunihiko Nohara
Omelet Mantle
Fiber-Reinforced Plastics
47 x 13.5 x 13.5 cm (2015)
SGD$2,700
(photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Artist: Kunihiko Nohara
Soup / Initial Piece
Acrylic on Wood
39 x 42 cm (2016)
SGD$3,200
(photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Photos: Art Stage Singapore 2017: Kunihiko Nohara
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine