Often inserting phantom characters in her paintings, Shiki Taira crafts mineral pigment works on silk that mix classical Japanese painting with contemporary sensibilities. These creatures seem to coexist with the subjects in this work, providing more lighthearted fare than terror.
“I enjoy deforming the distinctive features of a person’s skeleton when I paint that person and bring out unlimited images come to my mind while I paint phantoms,” the artist has said. “We have an idea the gods dwell in various creatures and nature traditionally in Japan. Phantom is a part of these ideas and painted and printed in subject of Ukiyo-e in Edo-period by Hokusai Katsushika and others.”
See more of Taira’s work below.
Celebrated artist and cartoonist 
Kyosuke Tchinai (b. 1948) is a Japanese artist known for his ethereal paintings made with acrylics and precious metals on washi paper. The artist employs traditional aesthetics and techniques that help pay tribute to his homeland while reflecting his training in Western style painting. Through his unique medium, the artist fuses these two worlds to present a modern interpretation of both Japanese and European art forms.