 Sakurai devotes himself to farming and painting (in Kasai-shi, Hyogo Prefecture) Landscape paintings of a 33-year-old farmer-cum-painter in Kasai-shi, Hyogo Prefecture, are drawing attentions for their fresh interpretation of the harshness and the preciousness of the nature that the painter knows from his days as a farmer. The young farmer and landscape painter, Kazuya Sakurai, draws fruits and vegetables by the window and farmland looking through the window on one canvas. He paints out of his imagination using many very small dots. He came up with this style without receiving any formal art education. He once was a shut-in, or hikikomori in Japanese, and isolated himself from any social contact after becoming truant and dropping out of senior high school. However, it was his passion for painting that helped him to enter the world again. Sakurai’s father is a farmer who grows Yamada-Nishiki rice for sake brewers and hot pepper, which is a local specialty. The young man quitted school at the age of 16, feeling that he doesn’t quite fit in the place. Since then, painting and farming have been the source of healing and treatment for him. At the age of 27, he decided to become a professional oil painter. Just recently, he had his first private exhibition in Tokyo and is planning to have more in other cities. Hoping that his paintings can cheer on many others too, he continues drawing. (Mar. 19, 2016) |