Animism

Painting

I had grown up in Japan. The nature worship behind Japanese culture always influences my artwork directly and indirectly. Shinto, Japanese original religion, has full of animistic thoughts. The term animism is used for primitive cultures and generally considered to be naive. However, the idea of non-human beings having souls is still found in everyday life in Japan and I believe that makes Japanese culture unique. Animistic way of thinking also gives us an opportunity to face modern environmental issues in different angles. Sometimes, animistic life indicates logical relationships between human and non-human beings.