Alia Sugawara’s solo exhibition "Black Water"

Aug 21, 2024 — Exhibition: Solo

650 × 800 × 25 mm, Japanese washi paper, Sumi, 2024

SAI presents Alia Sugawara’s largest solo exhibition to date, “Black Water”, showcasing an entirely new　collection of her work, from Friday, August 23rd through Sunday, September 8th.

SAI presents Alia Sugawara’s largest solo exhibition to date, “Black Water”, showcasing an entirely new collection of her work, from Friday, August 23rd through Sunday, September 8th.

Through the use of washi paper and sumi, Sugawara expresses her mind's creations bound with the natural nuances created by the mediums, attracting a growing number of fans. During Alia’ s solitary creative hours, often resembling meditation, she embraces the scent of the Japanese ink as it soaks and flows across the paper. Her unparalleled form of expression permeates each piece in this exhibition.

The inspiration for this collection comes from scenes and otherworldly beings borne from a world of tension and curiosity she experiences as she imagines herself being enveloped by the soft black water that permeates her creative space.

Alia Sugawara’s exhibition consists of Japanese hanging scrolls and folding screens together with mounted works. Each creates a serene space, oering a chance to step away from daily life for a while and quietly enjoy intricate details. We invite you to visit this place of deeply wondrous and emotional insights that resonate.

Artist Profile

Born in Sapporo, Alia Sugawara is an innovative Japanese ink artist who also works as a fashion model. By creating a unique and newly evocative form of Japanese painting, her style embodies contrasts and tones emblematic of her experiences in nature and informed also by her roots in both America and Japan.
She specializes in painting with both black Japanese sumi ink and black markerson traditional Japanese washi paper. Depicting dark and moody scenes from alternate dimensions, her work blends reality and emptiness masterfully.
Sugawara attended an art focused high school where she studied charcoal drawing and then pursued higher education at the University of British Columbia and Waseda University. She engaged in various creative activities while studying earth sciences such as the ecology of plant life and animals, earth formations, as well as human and animal evolution.
2022: “Alter Alia” solo exhibition at SO1 Gallery
2024: ART FAIR TOKYO group exhibition with Gallery Target

portrait photo credit: Kisshomaru Shimamura