Asao Kodama works mainly with oil on canvas.

Her depiction of plants is vivid, boasting their strong presence. Deeply rooted in the soil, they are far from artificially arranged beautiful flowers painted in other still life pictures. In her words, they are plants that ‘endure the rain and the wind, showing a sense of existence even when they decay.’ The forcefully and freely portrayed motifs appear to be celebrating ‘joie de vivre’ and ‘a sense of existence.’ While studying in Finland, her motifs were adopted into printed fabric by the world-renowned brand Marimekko, gracing the runway in the fashion show.

Bucking the recent artistic trend in Japan using acrylic with feather light brush strokes, leaving airy touch on the canvas, she remains firm in generating thick and heavy marks with her speedy and bold brush strokes in oil paints. She is a unique artist who refuses to be categorized as ‘traditional painting‘ or ‘contemporary art,’ or even ‘abstract’ or ‘representational’ painter.