Medium: Acrylic with iridescent pigment and 22K gold leaf on canvas,
Finished with Liquitex Gloss Varnish
Size: S50 (116.7 x 116.7 cm)
Year: 2025
Location: Japan Nikko Tōshō-gū
 
Signature located at the bottom corner on the front
Date, title, and medium inscribed on the back of the canvas
Includes a signed Certificate of Authenticity
This piece is inspired by “the unique radiance of Japan”, centering on the iconic Tōshō-gū Shrine in Tochigi Prefecture’s Nikko. The shrine’s very name, "Nikko" (meaning “sunlight”), symbolizes eternal brightness and divine protection. Yet, when night falls, the city of Nikko reveals another kind of light—serene and majestic beneath the stars. Though it is nighttime, the scene feels almost as bright as day. This blending of day and night, of the sacred and the natural, is exactly the atmosphere I sought to capture.
At the heart of the painting is the famed “Sleeping Cat” (Nemuri Neko), a well-known symbol of peace carved into the shrine. Here, the cat is no longer just a small architectural detail, but a true presence, peacefully asleep under a sky full of stars. We view the scene from a tourist’s perspective, gazing upward in quiet admiration, witnessing this fleeting moment of calm and beauty.
This work was also an experimental challenge. I not only used gold leaf once again, but for the first time introduced iridescent pigments. These special pigments shift color depending on the viewer’s angle, adding a subtle movement and depth to the surface of the painting.