Miwa Komatsu

Whitestone Gallery, in partnership with Artsy, is pleased to announce an auction of a new painting by acclaimed Japanese artist Miwa Komatsu in support of Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association. The new artwork to be auctioned, "Pure Energy Felt in the Forest," is currently on display in Miwa Komatsu's solo exhibition at Whitestone Gallery Seoul, which opened in September.

Miwa Komatsu “Pure Energy Felt in the Forest” 2023, 194 × 130.3 cm, Acrylic on canvas.

The painting, Pure Energy Felt in the Forest (2023), depicts the mythological animal or spirit from East Asian traditions known as the komainu. Komainu are horned guardian dogs protecting the grounds of Japanese Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines. Komatsu uses lines in the shapes of squiggles, curls, and swirls of blue, green, gold, yellow, and white to form the komainu. The endearing green creature, though painted in expressively chaotic strokes, exudes an aura of peacefulness and harmony as it rests its body on layers of paint in hues of dark forest green mixed with a more radiant, energetic green.

Having grown up in the high mountains of Japan’s Nagano Prefecture, Komatsu has been highly receptive to the invisible world from her childhood: Her early experience of being immersed in nature, surrounded by animals and rich natural landscapes, developed her distinctive view of life and death—that all beings are created spiritually equal. As Pure Energy Felt in the Forest reflects the artist’s special connection to nature and its life cycles, a portion of the proceeds from this auction will benefit Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association, South Korea’s leading relief organization for wildfires and flood damage.

Bidding is open exclusively on Artsy and is scheduled to start closing on Friday, September 22, 2023 at 12 p.m. EDT.