About the artwork

“Connecting with Nature for Healing and Revitalization: Nakago Green Park Project”
This project, unfolding in Nakago Green Park’s expansive lawn, offers opportunities for visitors to experience healing and a connection with nature to rejuvenate from the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring animal-themed artworks and participatory pieces like workshops and performances, the project aims to inject new vitality into the community.
[Participating Artists]: (List of artists)
Ishibashi Kodai, Isshiki Chitose, Osone Shunsuke, Ohtani Sakurako , Okamoto Mitsuhiro, Kasai Yusuke, Shimada Tadayuki, Sekiguchi Tsuneo, Sotome Kaoru, Tamada Taki, Torii Ayumi, Nakazato Eros, Nakamura Tasahi, Hayakawa Teppei, Hayano Megumi, Mimatsu Takuma, Murayama Tomoaki

《Three Horses Round and Round》by Nakazato Eros
Interactive Merry-Go-Round
The artist, who recently focuses on themes of rotation and circulation, works with various materials such as metal, glass, and wood. This piece was inspired by Shizzle Ohtaka’s song “Kaiten Mokuba (Merry-Go-Round).”

*Merry-go-round experience on August: 8/11 (Sun), 25 (Sun)  13:00-16:00

《Striving for 13 Meters, Orycteropus afer, Atelidae, Atelidae》by Shimada Tadayuki
Leaping with Mountains as the Background!
This piece, capturing a single movement of a kangaroo on the verge of landing as it leaps against the backdrop of vast fields and mountains, is by the artist known for the series “Animals of Plinius.”

《Earth dinosaur》by Tamada Taki
What is left by the dinosaur protecting eggs
Using cardboard as the primary material, the artist expresses the beauty and characteristics of living organisms. This outdoor installation changes over time and includes a participatory space for creating eggs.

《Echigotsumari Rainbowhut 2024》by Sekiguchi Tsuneo
Welcome to a dance floor enveloped in rainbow
The artist has been creating “Rainbow Hut” as dance spaces across the world, with DJs playing during ETAT. Visitors are embraced by rainbows created by water and mirror prisms, accompanied by music.

《In the beginning was the consciousness》by Nakamura Tasahi
Hyper-realistic world” crafted by dolls
The artist portrays the character “Mary of the Goats” and conducts a public doll-making performance, where mysterious animals float in the exhibition space.

《Animal Nirvana》by Murayama Tomoaki
Space becoming one with nature and living beings
The artist, known for meticulously depicting groups of animals and plants, creates a world of Nirvana under the theme of living in harmony through their interactions. Using the interior of a tent as a canvas, the artist expresses a unified world surrounded by diverse living things.

《Animal Picnics》by Hayakawa Teppei
Dynamic paper-cut art
An outdoor installation by a paper-cut artist who incorporates nature and animals as motifs. Various animals are created and arranged based on original paper-cut designs, inviting viewers to freely immerse themselves in this whimsical world.

《TORA rope》by Okamoto Mitsuhiro
Humorous expression questioning “boundaries”
The artist, renowned for satirical works such as “Battamon” and “Dozaemon,” further explores this theme through three-dimensional pieces inspired by the yellow and black patterned ropes known as “tora-ropes (tiger ropes)”.

《Rabbit》by Ohtani Sakurako
Strength in simple presence
In her first attempt at a large-scale piece, the ceramic artist captures the dignified posture of a tall rabbit gazing into the distance, radiating a powerful presence.

《Food Landscape》by Sotome Kaoru
Embedded in the fence.
Depicting the “tenuous boundary between life and food,” this piece is inspired by the obscured process of modern dining, where it’s challenging to discern how ingredients transform into meals. It invites contemplation on the relationship between eating and being eaten, sparking the imagination.

《Breath/Gaze》by Torii Ayumi
Appearance Inviting Caress
Stone sculptures of a wolf and a mole crafted by the artist, specialising in animal motifs. These sculptures, with their solid yet soft texture, evoke various expressions depending on the weather and the viewer’s mood.

《Migration of stuff》by Ishibashi Kodai
Questioning the relationship between humans and means of transportation
Exploring the transformation of “possessions” into “waste” and the potential for “waste” to acquire new value, the artist’s latest piece showcases a horse constructed from discarded materials. This prompts reflection on the human role in “mobility” and the broader concept of stewardship.

《–Animals–》by Hayano Megumi
Warm gazes from animals observing the viewers
Semi-three-dimensional pieces depicted on stacked boards. Created with Japanese washi paper and traditional Japanese paint materials, these colourful and lively animals exude vitality, their warm gazes invitingly meeting the viewer’s eyes.

《Re:cycling!!》by Mimatsu Takuma
Means of transportation transforming into characters?
Drawing inspiration from bicycles and mopeds, this installation merges vehicles and animals through wood carving, presenting “new possibilities for life.”
Cooperation: Kotobukikakou Co., Ltd., On Site Co., Ltd

《Dance of prayer -seeds-》by Isshiki Chitose
Colourful sculpture of prayer.
This work by the artist, who develops pieces under the concept of “SEED – the shape of beginnings” using pottery as a material, is filled with vitality, embodying hopes for a bright future.

《Thank You for Being Born》by Kasai Yusuke
Embraced by a swaying sphere
A swaying sphere resembling a rocking chair, created by an artist who proposes “new values created by life” from everyday events. Viewers can feel embraced and relaxed within it, evoking a sensation akin to being in the womb.

《Giraffe Pen and Giant Salamander Centre》 by Osone Shunsuke
Born from affection towards animals, the enormous lacquer artwork created by Osone using the dry lacquer technique is a life-size giraffe decided upon at the urging of his daughter. It stands tranquilly in this place alongside the giant salamander.