SUNART

SUNART finds art in individualities residing in all humans. Born in Osaka in 1978, she had an artist in her awakened from an early age. She once was a 7-year-old shy girl who painted the entire surface of the drawing paper yellow when she was supposed to draw the birth of Christ.
She spent her college years in Nagasaki, where she immersed herself in the nature-rich, idyllic landscape with mountains nearby and black kites flying above.
After graduation, she started working at a food manufacturing company. She would spend her days inspecting products, locked in the laboratory for the whole day. As the cobweb grew in her on the days that felt the same, she got struck by the encounter with the book ≪Bring Poison to Yourself≫ by Taro Okamoto. She then started drawing on the computer screen using red and black, which expressed passion and inner gloom. For a year and a half since 2005, she did so every single day.
The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019 allowed her to reflect on her life. Wanting to hang on to her potential, she marked the end of over a decade of working in the company for a fresh start.
The paintings she created back in 2005 paid a visit to her mind then, which led her to engage in a dialogue with herself. She took on an experiment of connecting herself in the past and the present through art.
The name she gave her artist self, SUNART, combines the first four characters of her last name, “sun,” and “art.” She came up with the name when she saw ≪Tower of Sun≫ by Taro Okamoto, which made her realize how each unique personality is a work of art, casting light of its own like the sun. She wishes to encourage others like the sun with her art.

1978年大阪生まれ。
7歳の頃キリスト生誕の絵を描いた際、人見知りでおとなしい性格だった彼女は画用紙一面を黄色のクレパスで塗り尽くした。
大学時代は長崎に住み、天狗山や空を舞っているトンビなど、自然豊かでのどかな環境を満喫した。
大学卒業後は食品メーカーに就職、一日中検査室に閉じこもり、品質管理のための検査をする日々だった。毎日同じ繰り返しでモヤモヤした気持ちを抱えている時、岡本太郎著「自分の中に毒を持て」と出会い、衝撃を受けた。それを機に、赤と黒（赤：情熱　黒：心の暗闇）の2色を使いPCにマウスで絵を描き始めた。2005年から一年半、毎日書き続けた。
2019年COVID19の流行を機に自分の人生について改めて考え、自分の可能性にかけたいと強く思い、十数年勤めた会社員生活に区切りをつけた。ふと、2005年から一年半描いていた絵のことを思い出し、絵を通して過去の自分との対話をはじめた。過去の自分と今の自分が絵を通して繋がるという実験。
SUNARTとは名前の頭文字に「ART」を付けたニックネーム。人間一人一人個性があり、それはARTだと感じた。その後、大阪にある岡本太郎の作品、太陽の塔（Tower of sun）に訪れた時に、自ら太陽「SUN」のように光を発し、個性を生かすことこそがアート「ART」だと、ハッと気づいた。アートを通して太陽のようにみんなを勇気づける存在になりたいと願っている。