The artist Mayako Nakamura started work on the “The 47 Vegetables” in the 17th room in the series on 12th May, 2015, and completed it on 11th June, 2015.
“I treated the room as a white porcelain vessel,” says Ms. Nakamura. The focus was on the white walls, which were primed five times before being coated in white. Taking inspiration from the forms of Nabeshima ware, which is globally famous for its rarity and degree of quality, of which Ms. Nakamura is also a fan, the walls were then decorated with the motif of forty-seven plants from Japan. The resulting design is transparent and refined.
The artist says, “I hope people staying in this room will treat it like a part of their own home, as though taking a stroll in the garden.” The walls, almost like a scroll, feature motifs of traditional Japanese dwellings. To the right, towards the bed, is an open corridor. One proceeds past the adjacent kitchen to the hills. Passing by a small stream, wetlands, a swamp, and another hill brings one to a field, then back home. This unusual white space is where the seasons pass, with the image of mountain ginseng, fern, pepper, and matsutake mushroom adorning the scene. We hope you enjoy a stroll through the room while searching for the forty-seven plants.
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Room #3132 | Completion Date: June 2015
Suppose this room is a porcelain bowl. A Nabeshima porcelain bowl with 47 vegetables of Japanese origin.
The wall painting surrounds you like an emaki scroll: from veranda, kitchen, highland, stream, marshland, pond, hill, fields and to the courtyard.
Hop inside and have a pleasant walk through the landscape!
Mayako Nakamura
Mayako Nakamura (1976-) is a painter, living and working in Tokyo.
She exhibits her work in both domestic and foreign venues since 2009. She explains her working method: “I trace the shapes of space and boundaries in everyday, as my body feels. When numerous senses woven together with the impressions of the reality that my mind has already known, and with the universal shapes that my kokoro longs for, another day appears on my canvas.” Mayako’s works has been used as book cover and CD jacket illustrations, collaborates with clothing brands, creates clocks and ceramic paintings as well as paintings on canvas.