Japanese artist Shintaro Ohata places sculptures in front of paintings to create wondrous scenes inspired by childhood. They play out every day encounters between his child subjects, their pets and imaginary friends with the world around them. While their lives may seem ordinary for the most part, Ohata’s playful and impressionistic style make them feel like fantasies. They are sculpted from polystyrene which are then painted to perfectly match their traditional 2D acrylic backgrounds. Ohata’s unique blend of the 2D and 3D world was born out of an interest to more closely reach his audience. “The moment I wish to create my work is the same as the moment when a character in my painting “begins” to feel something. If I could do so, and viewers of my work could feel something continued from the “beginning”, my painting would expand beyond myself and reach each of you,” he says. The effect is emotive and oftentimes, tricks the eye. His displays are commonly mistaken for being dramatically lit, but their dynamism is the result of his vibrant color palette and expressive design. Broken free of their canvases, Ohata’s subjects reach out into our world only to take us into Ohata’s imaginary one.
