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大久保紗也
Saya OKUBO
1992 Born in Fukuoka, Japan
Currently lives and works in Tokyo.
profile photo by Hidenori Suzuki
WORKS EXHIBITIONS NEWS STATEMENT CV

WORKS

  • Solo Exhibition “The mirror crack’d from side to side”
    2022
    Installation view

    Venue : Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery (Tokyo) / photo by: Shintaro Yamanaka (Qsyum!)
  • Warrior ( mirror )
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1620 × 1303 mm
  • The Cursed Woman
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1303 × 1620 mm
  • Fishing (left)
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1303 × 970 mm
  • Fishing (right)
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1303 × 970 mm
  • Sleeping (left)
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • Sitting woman (mirror)
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 455 × 380 mm
  • She’s sitting
    2022
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1000 × 727 mm
  • Solo Exhibition “We are defenseless. / We are aggressive. “
    2022
    Installation view

    Venue : Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Honten, MITSUKOSHI CONTEMPORARY GALLERY (Tokyo) / photo by: Shintaro Yamanaka (Qsyum!)
  • Man with baton
    2021
    acrylic and oil on wooden panel, 2025 × 1395 mm
  • therapy / exorcism
    2021
    acrylic and oil on wooden panel, 1210 × 2000 mm
  • They (stop hitting, stop holding)
    2021
    oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1800 × 1500 mm
  • They
    2021
    oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1300 × 1765 mm
  • Art of self-defense
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1455 × 1120 mm
  • warrior
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • subjugation
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • stretching
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 455 × 380 mm
  • Art Fair “Art Collaboration Kyoto“
    2021
    Installation view

    Venue : Kyoto International Conference Center Event Hall (Kyoto) / photo by Nobutada Omote
  • Man with a stick ( police )
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1303 × 970 mm
  • hypochondriac /prayer
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1455 × 1120 mm
  • Supporting body ( front plank )
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1455 × 1120 mm
  • They
    2021
    oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1475 × 1190 mm
  • Man with a stick ( Indian )
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1455 × 970 mm
  • They
    2021
    oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1475 × 1190 mm
  • The Cow Thief
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 1620 × 1303 mm
  • The Burning Woman
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • Melancholy
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 652 × 530 mm
  • juggling
    2021
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 530 × 455 mm
  • A shock (swing)
    2020
    acrylic and oil on canvas panel, 652 × 530 mm
  • Solo Exhibition “They”
    2020
    installation view
    Venue: WAITINGROOM (Tokyo) / Photo by Shintaro Yamanaka (Qsyum!)
  • They
    2020
    Oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1820 × 1500 mm
  • They
    2020
    Oil and acrylic on corrugated plastics sheeting, 1820 × 1500 mm
  • Flag girl
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1455 × 970 mm
  • Climbing (pointing)
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1167 × 910 mm
  • The child pointing
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • sitting with stick
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • maybe there
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 800 mm in dia.
  • pointing finger (mirror)
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 455 × 530 mm
  • bending body
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 455 × 380 mm
  • Woman with knife
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1303 × 970 mm
  • The sitting man
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • Waiting with plant
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • I was hit by a yellow car.
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • She's lying
    2020
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 652 × 803 mm
  • They (Venus)
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1167 × 910 mm
  • They (Leader)
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • They (Lovers)
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • Here and there
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • He was thinking
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • Nothing (crying)
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • Flop down
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 530 × 455 mm
  • Sleeping
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 530 × 455 mm
  • She’s sitting (Reverse)
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 333 × 242 mm
  • Sleep with a pot in her arms
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 410 × 318 mm
  • with a plant
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 455 × 380 mm
  • Scratch the nose
    2019
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 333 × 242 mm
  • She’s sitting
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • a shock
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 455 × 380 mm
  • nothing (man)
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 652 × 803 mm
  • pointing finger
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 530 × 455 mm
  • Solo Exhibition “a doubtful reply”
    2018
    installation view
    Venue: WAITINGROOM (Tokyo) / Photo by Shintaro Yamanaka (Qsyum!)
  • The short answer is no and yes
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1940 × 1303 mm
  • Sitting an’ thinking
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1620 × 1303 mm
  • His drawing drawing
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1620 × 1303 mm
  • It was impossible to guess whether it meant ‘yes’ or ‘no’
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 910 × 727 mm
  • She’s dropping
    2017
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • His drawing drawing
    2017
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 530 × 455 mm
  • She is there
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
  • pointing finger
    2018
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 333 × 242 mm
  • His drawing drawing
    2017
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 1829 × 1329 mm
  • Person crouching down
    2017
    oil and acrylic on canvas panel, 803 × 652 mm
/71

EXHIBITIONS

NEWS

STATEMENT

Making paintings is the act of exploring how we perceive images and their contradictions and discrepancies within the shallow space of a flat surface.
The actions and poses of the people I use as motifs bring with them the sociality and narratives behind them.
One cannot act without being subject to the influence of others, or in the absence of relationships.
A single action lies at the end of a series of acts that lead from the past to the present.
Just as a single line in a drawing reveals something about the artist’s physicality and habits of thought, a painting cannot really escape narrative.
The process of making a painting begins with lines, drawn using pen and pencil on paper.
The lines of these drawings connect me and the motif through an act initiated by my body.
Detached from precision by the quick drawing process, these outlines are abstracted and broken down, preventing the motif from being properly recognized and pulling it out of the context (narrative) that is connected to its background.
This stripped motif then enters into individual associations with new outlines, while the textures and colors of the freely scattered paint approach and then distance themselves from the viewer’s sensations and memories of the landscape.
While the work attempts to form an image, it is disintegrating at the same time.
The relationship between the motifs and myself, which often contains contradictions and discrepancies, is connected to the mistakes and inability to understand each other that are bound to occur in our human relationships, and to our acceptance of them.

CV

EDUCATION
2017

Kyoto University of Art and Design, Master’s degree, Oil Painting

2015

Kyoto University of Art and Design, Bachelor’s degree, Oil Painting

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025

project N 99 Saya Okubo, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2024

Replicas that tell a story, Kyoto TSUTAYA BOOKS 6F Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Leimotiv, Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Honten, MITSUKOSHI CONTEMPORARY GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

2022

Box of moonlight, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan
The mirror crack’d from side to side, Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
We are defenseless. / We are aggressive., Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Honten, MITSUKOSHI CONTEMPORARY GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan

2020

They, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2018

a doubtful reply, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025

To Sway and Surround : Japanese Female Abstraction, Each Modern, Taipei, Taiwan

2024

collection #08, rin art association, Gunma, Japan
SPRING SHOW, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan
RE: FACTORY_2, WALL_alternative, Tokyo, Japan

2023

“The lens within your heart” from the TAKEUCHI COLLECTION, WHAT MUSEUM 2F, Tokyo, Japan
SPRING SHOW, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2022

SPRING SHOW, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2021

Viewing Room Exhibition, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2020

10TH, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan
Viewing Room Exhibition, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2019

Island with ONI, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

2017

NEWSPACE, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan
The 4th CAF Award - Winning Award Exhibition, Daikanyama Hillside Forum, Tokyo, Japan
Art Students Exhibition 2017, SEZON ART GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
Kyoto University of Art and Design Master’s Degree Show, Kyoto University of Art and Design Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan

2016

movement 2016 {1st movement}, ARTZONE, Kyoto, Japan
SPERT2016, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan

2015

HERE I AM KUAD×TUNA Exchange Exhibition, Na pai Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
HOP2015, Galerie Aube, Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto University of Art and Design Bachelor’s Degree Show, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto, Japan

ART FAIRS
2024

Art Fair Tokyo 2024, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan [Solo]
MEET YOUR ARTISTS, Warehouse TERADA B&C HALL, Tokyo, Japan [Group]

2021

Art Collaboration Kyoto, Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto, Japan [Group]
ART FAIR TOKYO 2021, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan [Group]

2019

ART FAIR TOKYO 2019, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan [Group]

AWARDS
2017 The 4th CAF Award, Masami Shiraishi Award
ARTICLES
“Painter in 2021 Experiments in Color and Shape”, Art Collectors, No.187, Oct. 2024, p.60, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
[Interview] “Artist Interview vol. 7 Saya Okubo”, HOLBEIN, July. 31, 2024, https://www.holbein.co.jp/blog/topics/a90
“43 editorial recommendations for writers who stand out for their charm of dots, lines, and surfaces”, Art Collectors, No.168, Mar. 2023, p.49, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
[Interview] “Artists #26 Saya Okubo”, Contemporary Art Foundation, Feb. 21, 2022, https://gendai-art.org/news_single/artists_sayaokubo/
“Exhibition Guide for this month 2021.12.25-2022.1.24”, Art Collectors, No.154, Jan. 2022, p.111, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
Sam Gaskin “Ocula conversation | Art Collaboration Kyoto Transports the Art World to Japan”, Ocula Magazine, Nov. 2, 2021, https://ocula.com/magazine/conversations/art-collaboration-kyoto-brings-art-world-to-japan/
“Music & Art”, Art Collectors, No.147, Jun. 2021, p.39, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
“Now I get it! The World of Abstract Painting”, Art Collectors, No.144, Mar. 2021, p.51, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
“In 2020, I bought this!” HIRO’s collection” p.10, “All data of sold-out artists 2021” p.36, Art Collectors, No.143, Feb. 2021, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
“Let me see your Collection Vol.76 — Satoshi Arita”, Art Collectors, No.142, Jan. 2021, pp.92-93, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
Shigeyuki Maruhashi, "Contemporary art opens a new ancient city", Sankei Newspaper, Dec. 26, 2020, p.11
“kiki's ART TRIPPER”, NYLON JAPAN, Nov. 2019, Caelum
"The beginning of the art collector", AERA STYLE MAGAZINE, vol. 42, 2019 SPRING issue, p.148, Asahi Shinbun Publications
“All data of sold-out artists 2019", Art Collectors, No.120, Mar. 2019, p.52, Seikatsu no Tomo Sha
Toru Kawagishi “Interest for art of global executives”, GOETHE, No.154, Jan. 2019, pp.80-81, Gentosha
Ichiro Fukano [moderator], Fumika Tsukada [text], “Artists of same generation are rivals. What is the party viewpoint of "outgoing" art collector, Junya Komatsu”, Muuseo Square, Nov. 10, 2018,https://muuseo.com/square/articles/942
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