COLLECT ART
Specializing in Japanese contemporary art, Collect Art presents a curated selection of art and fine objects by our represented artists. Discover works currently available for acquisition or enquire about commissioning a piece tailored to your collection.
We bring together works by artists whose practices have been internationally recognized and whose works are held in institutional collections. Through Collect Art, we make these works accessible to collectors seeking something meaningful, distinctive, and enduring for their spaces.
Whether you are beginning a collection, enriching an existing one, or looking for a particular piece for your space, we invite you to discover art that resonates with you and becomes part of your story.
EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
“Mokugei” by Kenta Hirai
Medium: Yoshino Cedar
Size: 80 x 12 x 20 cm, Year: 2025
Mokugei is a sculptural whale formed from delicately layered cedar, allowing the natural grain of the wood to emerge as an integral element of its expression. The flowing contours evoke the graceful movement of a whale gliding through water, while the rhythmic grain patterns accentuate a sense of motion and vitality.
About Kenta HIRAI
My work begins with the quiet discipline of laminating and gluing multiple thin sheets of wood, each one bent carefully into form. I rely on straight-grained, naturally stable Yoshino wood — material long regarded for its exceptional quality — and once the layers are bonded, the structure holds its shape with remarkable consistency. While humidity may introduce subtle shifts to the surface over time, these variations are gentle, making the material especially suited for objects or mirrors that are handled less frequently.
Graduating from the Department of Environmental Design at Kyoto University of Art and Design in 2007, he began his career at Shimizu Corporation’s Kansai Division within the Design Department. Seeking a deeper engagement with material, he later trained in woodworking at Shinrin Takumi Juku in Hida-Takayama in 2010, before expanding his perspective internationally through his work at Joseph Walsh Studio in Ireland in 2012.
His practice has since garnered significant recognition, including being selected as Nara Prefecture’s representative and a Featured Artisan for the LEXUS NEW TAKUMI PROJECT in 2018, and collaborating with architect Kengo Kuma in 2019. Among his accolades are the Bronze Leaf Prize at the International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa, the Excellence Award
(Director-General of the Forestry Agency Award) at the Wood Design Award, the Excellence Award at the Traditional Craft Revitalization Contest in 2021, and the Grand Prix at the Japan Wa-Bunka Grand Prix in 2024.
" Blue Flower - Chinese St. John's Wort"
by Yoichiro Nishimura
Medium: Epson Print on Semi Glossy Photo Paper, Mounted on Aluminum Board | Size: 70.7 x 87 cm, Edition of 8
Inspired by Man Ray’s photogram, an old and classic shooting technique in which the subject is placed on chemically treated paper and exposed to a light without using a camera resulting to a monochrome image, Nishimura’s Scangram technique creates a luminous negative digital version of photogram. The visual reversed effect adds a mystic silhouette as if the image is captured under a moonlight. Nishimura sometimes describes his “Blue Flower” series as “flowers of the shadow”
About Yoichiro NISHIMURA
Born in 1967 in Tokyo, Japan, Yoichiro Nishimura received his Photography course at Bigakko, an alternative School of Art in Japan. The artist has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan, the Netherlands, and France. Nishimura has recently won Gold Prize for his “Blue Flower” photo-catalogue in Japan, among other awards he received throughout his career. Nishimura’s works can be found in the collections of Daido Moriyama, K’MoPa Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, and Zen Foto. The artist lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.
In May 2026, he had his first collaboration with Issey Miyake showcasing an installation, “Yoichiro Nishimura: Where light touches folds and forms” by 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE.
"Blue Flower - Chrysanthemum"
by Yoichiro Nishimura
Medium: Epson Print on Semi Glossy Photo Paper, Mounted on Aluminum Board | Size: 42 x 59.4 cm, Edition of 8
"Life #4 Tulip"
by Yoichiro Nishimura
Medium: Epson Print on Semi Glossy Photo Paper, Mounted on Aluminum Board | Size: 42 x 59.4 cm, Edition of 8
In his “Life” series, artist Yoichiro Nishimura has done years of experiment, capturing the beauty of his own ‘Ikebana’: the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The format which the artist employs expresses the flowers’ elegance, one of the two translations in Japanese Kanji characters for the word flower. On a dark setting, the flowers are photographed under natural light using a Hasselblad camera, a snapshot where his emotions and values resonate describing the balance between life and death, light and dark, and the Chinese principle of yin and yang. For Nishimura, the latest technology is secondary, it is only the artistic expression of his own inspiration.
