ARTIST INTERVIEW

An exclusive interview with artist and flower artist ruteN.

"The absolute beauty of the changing seasons from autumn to winter"

ruteN Solo Exhibition "impermanence" <Saturday, October 26th, 2024 - Monday, November 4th (National Holiday)>

ruteN is an artist who connects deeply with the souls of plants and creates images that arise from that connection. What is in his unique style of "painting as if arranging flowers," which also draws inspiration from the Ichiyo style of flower arranging,. We spoke to him ahead of the exhibition.

--What inspired you to start working as an artist?

Since I was in junior high school, I had been aiming to enter the entertainment industry and worked as a model, but the more I expressed myself through my body, the more I felt that there was "something" inside of me that I wanted to express, but that was lying dormant.

Ever since I was a child, I felt that I was not good at expressing my thoughts in words and found it easier to express them through pictures, so I would draw pictures of the thoughts and feelings I had at the time. I hadn't drawn anything since I moved to Tokyo, but I decided to try drawing again four years ago.

At the time, I was working part-time at a vegan cafe in Nishi-Azabu, and the owner kindly allowed me to use their space to hold an exhibition, and it was at this time that I painted on canvas for the first time. Even though I had never studied painting properly and was just drawing what was on my mind like a diary, I received many kind words from people who came to see my works, and I was filled with gratitude and feelings that cannot be expressed in words.

After that exhibition, many people approached me asking me to paint murals for their stores, and I felt like I was being told, "It's okay to paint," so I decided to follow the lead and pursue the path of painting.

--Have you been able to awaken "something" that lies dormant within yourself through drawing?

Since I was a child, I have had the feeling that I have been communicating with plants without words, and when I face plants, images unfold. Sometimes the same images appear, but they are different every time. I draw images that return to me something like the flow of energy, the energy that flows inside flowers and trees. It feels really good. I don't know if feeling good is the right answer, but I really feel like I'm able to express what's inside of me.

--Is flower arranging a similar sensation?

Flowers are seasonal, and if the exhibition period is longer than a week, the flowers will be replaced with those that are in season. I think the beauty of ikebana is that it allows the human hand to express the scenery and changes that can only be seen at that moment. The Ichiyo style ikebana that I am learning is a school that pursues flowers that harmonize with the space, and is characterized by originality in the arrangement of flowers using materials that suit the season and the land.

Painting is like writing down in a personal diary the invisible energy and life force that resides within plants, so it may be a little different from Ikebana, but I feel there is a connection between the feeling of arranging flowers while having a dialogue with the plants, such as deciding what angle to arrange the flowers at to make them look beautiful, and the feeling of putting a paintbrush to them.

--You are also working on exhibitions that combine ikebana and painting.

I believe that Ichiyo Ikebana is a style of arranging flowers while balancing the expression of the dynamism and energy that is unique to plants and the season. When I first saw the works, I was shocked at how different it was from the image of Ikebana I had had up until then. When I discovered that the strength and beauty of plants that I had always felt could be expressed so richly through Ikebana, I thought "This is it!" and immediately decided to start.

The pressure of the brush, the way I apply the paint, and especially the way I balance it with the space, are all heavily influenced by what I learned in Ichiyo Ikebana. I feel that by exhibiting my paintings and Ikebana in the same space, people can now experience what I feel.

--Another distinctive feature is the technique of layering colors on the base and then peeling off some of them. How did you come up with this idea?

I likened the memories of my soul and the energy cells that have brought me to where I am today to colorful circles, and painted them as if they were covering the canvas. When I scraped off the pattern before the paint dried, unexpected colors appeared. I thought that this was similar to the feeling of a distant memory, a seasonal scent, or a scene suddenly coming back to life, or the beauty of a being that suddenly appears and is unknown.

I feel that accepting the colors I encounter in this way and layering colors and lines to create artwork is a form of dialogue with plants, and I've realized it's a way of exploring what lies deep within myself.

--His works include sunflowers that fill the entire canvas, and are characterized by their vivid use of yellow, red and blue colors and voluminous brushstrokes, but he also produces works with deep colors and delicate lines.

This is an image that came to me last year when I decided to exhibit at Eric Rose (※) and started working on oil paintings. I still use yellow from time to time, but as I continued to experiment with layering the color to create a deep sea-like color, the tone became the complete opposite of my previous style. I felt like a new me had emerged, including the glossiness that acrylic doesn't have.

Just as flowers and plants come in all different shapes and colors, there are colors, shapes, and atmospheres that are felt through deeper senses than just our eyes. I would like to continue to paint pictures that resonate with the senses of those who see them.

--Must it be a completely different feeling to face a work with a style that is so completely opposite to yours?

My works, which use vivid colors, have the feeling of being filled with energy with the waxing and waning of the moon, and when I create my works using deep tones I feel as if I am in a fetal state, or floating in amniotic fluid.

Nature is constantly changing, and I paint what I sense from it, so I think it's natural that what I sense also changes. The theme of this exhibition is the change and impermanence of nature, but expressing the "gap" between nature and humans is also a consistent theme for me, so it's fine for the lines and colors to be different depending on when I paint.

I'm going to accept what I feel in the moment and draw what comes out at that moment. It's an essential feeling for me right now to continue drawing in a way that feels comfortable.

The venue will also display flower arrangements made especially for this exhibition. ruteN's solo exhibition "Impermanence", which expresses the sublime energy of nature in a unique style that combines painting and art, will be held from Saturday, October 26th to Monday, November 4th.

*A cafe with stores in Omotesando and Yokohama. They also organize exhibitions of different artists each month, and ruteN held "hazama" at the Omotesando store last year.

ABOUT ARTIST

ruteN

Artist and flower artist from Miyazaki Prefecture. She started working as a model in Tokyo in 2014. In 2018, she studied under the fourth head of the Ichiyo style of Ikebana, Takahiro Kasuya. In 2023, she obtained a teaching certificate for the same school (pen name: Kashiwaba). She is currently a full member of the Japan Ikebana Art Association, a public interest incorporated foundation, and a member of the Ikebana Association. She began her career as an artist in 2020.

To the artist page