Q&A with Tamie Okuyama, Ahead of her First HK Solo Show via Sotheby’s

“I have been adrift, but the thing that has stuck with me the most is that the Earth is much smaller than I thought,” says the 78-year-old Tamie Okuyama.

Sotheby's is hosting the Hong Kong debut exhibition for Japanese artist Tamie Okuyama, marking her largest exhibition to date. At 78, Okuyama continues to channel her enduring fascination with the world into artworks that explore the relationship between humanity, nature and the cosmos. Visitors are encouraged to shed their self-awareness when viewing her paintings, particularly the glowing spherical forms, allowing for a return to fundamental consciousness.

For your inaugural exhibition at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, what kind of viewing experience do you envision for the audience?

I would like people to realize that the world they usually view as ordinary and take for granted, actually has another facet that contains many surprises and multi-faceted forms, and I would like them to free themselves from their everyday senses, even if only for a short while, and play with the deepest parts of their hearts. I would be happy if my paintings could serve as a catalyst for this.

How would you describe your impressions of the Hong Kong art scene in recent years?

I visited Hong Kong once. Fifty-three years have passed since I spent a few days walking the streets of Hong Kong. I would say that I know nothing about Hong Kong.

I am very much looking forward to this upcoming visit, including comparing it with my vague memories of this city.

This solo exhibition showcases over 90 remarkable works. Which of these pieces represent your most recent artistic endeavors?

A series of floral paintings titled Super Bloom (花千里Hana Senri). Recently, there has been a lot of research on flowers microscopic nectar, and I have come to know about astonishing mechanisms, such as how flowers select their own colours, how they prepare nectar by listening to the sound of insect wings with their thin petals, and how flowers communicate with other flowers by releasing enzymes, I was completely fascinated.

Your work explores the connections between humanity, nature, and the universe. With a wealth of life experiences behind you, how has your perspective on nature evolved? And how do you now perceive the universe?

Since the age of 13, I have been sensitive to news about space and physics, and would think deeply on this topic. A recent conclusion of a debate between relativity, which explains the formation of space-time, and quantum theory, which explains the behavior of matter, was one that evaporated my identity. Three-dimensional universe emerged from a two-dimensional quantum code, and its holographic world is the real universe, including ours. Dr. Maldacena of Princeton University, who ended the aforementioned controversy with an equation, drew a diagram on the TV screen and explained it in a way that defies the human imagination. Still, it gave me a rich moment to enjoy my imagination. One of the more familiar cosmic pleasures is the race to find exoplanets.

Experts from all over the world are searching for Earth-like planets outside our solar system. Every now and then the news comes in, and every time it does, it makes my heart pound and stimulates my visual imagination.

I would like people to realize that the world they usually view as ordinary and take for granted, actually has another facet that contains many surprises and multi-faceted forms.

The sun has emerged as a pivotal theme in your recent paintings. What inspired this radiant focus?
I guess it's not so much inspiration, but rather the fact that I have always had a familiarity with it as a familiar celestial body. The sun is a tangible presence, that I dedicate my passion for quantum and the universe to. I would like to draw the sun as my life's work, and that my painted sun is living and breathing, just like us.

Circular life form. From elementary particles to celestial bodies, from micro to macro.

A round living creature that encompasses everything seamlessly.

I want it to be my sun, representing all life in the solar system.

I would like to draw the sun as my life's work, and that my painted sun is living and breathing, just like us.

Your life has been enriched by diverse travel experiences from a young age. Is there a recent journey that has particularly touched your heart and left a lasting impression?
As a young child of three or four, my older cousin made me stand in the lawn and said to me, “You are standing on a round star called Earth. That is why, if you walk straight ahead, you will come back around from this side,” he explained, clasping his fists. This scene remained etched in my memory for the rest of my life, and it became something of a desire to further explore the planet I was born on. I have visited many countries, and in a sense, I have been adrift, but the thing that has stuck with me the most is that the Earth is much smaller than I thought. When I boarded a plane for the first time and saw the roundness of the earth with my eyes and realized how small it was, I felt as if this planet was unreliable and I was losing my footing. Eventually, I came to love it, but now I am very worried about whether we really care about this small, loving, and cosmically rare planet.

You encountered a phase of artistic disillusionment in the late 1980s, followed by a transformative and mysterious experience. Could you share a glimpse of what that enlightening experience entailed?

There was a period, I became unable to paint because of the realization that, the paintings I had been making had become detached from my own emotions and ended up as false or rather trivial explanations. One day, after days of worrying, I decided to stop thinking about supporting my life with my paintings. I decided from now on, I will paint my emotions directly and if I can't make a living from it, my life is over, so be it!

As soon as I thought that, my surroundings suddenly turned into a world of perfect bliss. I opened the window and the wind flowed through me as if it had a gentle will of its own. The sky, the clouds, the cat next to me, all looked different, including everything I saw, even the man-made cups and chairs, this it! Everything you see, from the man-made chair to the cup, exists with a radiance of its own. I remember walking around the house and fussing by myself. This is it! I guess I felt like I had received the answer to my question.

I changed my painting style drastically and won a big Japanese award for it.

What wisdom or encouragement would you offer to emerging artists embarking on their creative journeys?

I think it is good to sometimes throw away all the distracting thoughts and calculations used to protect one’s self, go back to a clean slate and let the voice in your heart guide you. Clean, pure and unadulterated.

Tamie Okuyama Exhibition
Date: From now until March 15
Venue: Sotheby's Maison, Hong Kong Landmark Chater, Central