Education
Tokyo University of the Arts
Major:Japanese Painting (Japanese-style Painting/Nihonga)
Graduation Date: March 2006
Master's course :2009
Doctor's degree :2011
Awards
- 2014、The Emerald Grant Award (Tokyo National University of the Arts)
- 2013,2012,2010,2009,2008 Soga win a prize
- 2009, The 19th scholarship Award (Sato International Cultural Scholarship Foundation)
Hiroko Otake : Contemporary Nihonga Artist
The theme of my artwork is “the constancy found within fluid moments.” I see myself as ever-changing, like a dynamic equilibrium – it is this constant flux that allows me to remain true to my current self.
The seasons — spring, summer, autumn, and winter — are consistent in their cycle, yet never identical to the year before. Through my work, I explore the idea that truth resides in the interplay where fluidity and constancy coexist, much like the relationship between Atman and Brahman.
My motifs of butterflies and flowers symbolize the fleeting nature of the present moment. A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis, transforming from a larva to a pupa, and finally emerging as a butterfly — each stage entirely different from the last. Similarly, I find a sense of transience, resilience, and beauty in nature’s processes, where buds blossom into flowers, eventually wither, and create seeds for the future.
I believe embracing the fluid and transient as they are, discovering their essence in nature, and striving to live in harmony with nature are integral aspects of the Japanese identity. My work aspires to reinterpret this aesthetic sensibility by transcending traditional categories like Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) and embracing the coexistence of diverse elements: cultures, parts and wholes, history and modernity. Through this, I aim to create art that reflects the beauty of coexistence within transformation.
Collaboration Project
- 2019
- Kimono:Obi Project, Collaboration with SILKLAB
- 2018
- Tobirae Project, Collaboration with Antbb Electronics & Hospitalities, Tokyo
- Renovation Industry Forum, collaboration with Art Life Association, Tokyo
- Adore Spring Summer Collection, Collaboration with Adore, Tokyo
- 2017
- Art Project Hiroko Otake with BoConcept Squilla Living Chair 150th Anniversary of Japan and Denmark Diplomatic establishment, Tokyo
- Hills Night 2017 with L’atelier do Joel Robuchon, Tokyo
- Mikimoto Pearl Necklace, collaboration with Mikimoto, Tokyo
- Book cover“Queen”Mikihiko Renjo
- 2016
- MoMA Design Store Tea ceremony, with Souryo Matsumura, Sony, NYC
- 2014
- Lawry’s Tokyo Entrance Art work, for Lawry’s Prime Rib Stake, Tokyo
- 2012
- Artist in Hotel -Cherry blossoms room-, for Park Hotel Tokyo
- 2009
- Book cover“今、ここからすべての場所へ”Kenichiro Mogi
- Book cover“化蝶散華”Genku Sokyu
- Book cover“For Life,”Clinician Medical Magazine, July Issue
