The Great Harmonisation

“Do not let the illusions of your brain despise your brilliant soul.”

Miwa Komatsu grew up in Nagano surrounded by Japan’s highest mountains. With art, she searches for connections with the unseen and...

“Do not let the illusions of your brain despise your brilliant soul.”

Miwa Komatsu grew up in Nagano surrounded by Japan’s highest mountains. With art, she searches for connections with the unseen and eternal.

The course of Komatsu’s practice emerged from a realisation that art can live forever – prompted by encounters with the writings of philosophers past and present. From this point on, art became a spiritual pursuit and artworks revealed their capacity to one day become relics of her own.

The Great Harmonisation, a new poem translated from Japanese to English, offers a snapshot of an evolving philosophy. Its title suggests an alternative to The Great Acceleration which defines our collective present, encompassing the cosmic aspirations Komatsu holds for her life and for her art.

“In a deep and calm state of mind
The vast universe that spreads above us
And the many universes that lie within all living things
Have no limits.”

Bound between hardback covers foiled with illustrations of divine beasts and housed in a fabric-covered slip case, Komatsu’s poem takes the form of a 16-page illustrated concertina. An adaptation of Legends in the Future Tense (2022), her largest painting to date, is printed on the reverse.

  
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Edition details
Dimensions
15cm x 12.5cm x 2.5cm
Medium
Hardback book based with a double-sided concertina interior, housed in a fabric-covered slipcase with gold foiling.
Release date
October 16, 2023
Behind the scenes