Atelier Talk — September 2026: "You Don't Always Need to Understand Everything in Front of You" & In Your Head or In Your Hand

Atelier Brush Disorder

Into September

For the first time, I am trying to paint a very personal memory with my window series. I don't know how to describe it, but it is that kind of month for me. I am feeling fall on my skin before seeing the real ocean. (I say it this way because I count the East River as "half ocean.")

Next month, I can probably share some progress on my new works with you.

SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2026

Next week, I will be exhibiting at the SPRING/BREAK NYC ART SHOW 2026, from September 23-28, as part of NYC art fair week. SPRING/BREAK Art Show is the curator-driven art fair in NYC. Please visit the fair if you can and look for my paintings. I will be part of a five-artist exhibition, On the Other Side, curated by Claire McConaughy, with my four-panel window painting called After Hours and another brown window painting called There Was a Little Boy.

If you would like to see me there, I plan to be at my booth on Thursday, the 24th.

“Little Boy” is the historical code name for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, while “Fat Man” was the code name for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW 2026 

555 West 57th Street, New York City (between Tenth and Eleventh)

Dancing Jelly Fishes

My Lava Lamp Dream & My Lava Lamp Theory

This morning, I was thinking about the lava lamp theory I have been contemplating and developing, on and off, for years now. Because of this jellyfish lamp (mass-produced), I ended up sitting in front of it one night.

However my thinking travels, it always arrives at the same conclusion after considering what it would be like to own one: that, like a lava lamp, there are things that are better to dream about having than actually having. When you dream about it, you don't turn it on. It is always on when you think about it. But once you actually have it, most of the time, it might be turned off.

Like at my friend's place. She turns it on for me when I stay there because she knows I love it, and I look forward to seeing it by my couch at night with their cat. But I heard from her that it is not always on. And indeed, most of the time, it is a still object of a futuristic shape without light, heat, or movement.

Because I have been dreaming about having one someday, my imaginary lava lamp has become beyond articulation. Now my imaginary lava lamp has gone far beyond what I can attain.

Maybe sometimes, some things are better to be in your head than in your hand. Especially if it is something that already exists on this planet.

Because when you have it, it becomes an object.

While I say I am waiting for someone close to me to give me one, and that will be my perfect one, I also wish that no one will ever gift me one in the future, so I can have the endless freedom to dream and think about this whole thing around it.

You might see them in my window paintings someday, and that might be as close as I ever get to owning one in my life.

Book of the Month

But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman

 Taking my But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past with me on my subway trip.

It is indeed the worst book to pick up for me right now, as I should be absolutely aware of what I am doing and be sure to understand my situation. But I picked this book from my shelf right now because I felt that unless I finish it, it will stay on my future to-read bookshelf.

Some books stay with me after I read them; some books are off to find a new place.

I will try to read it during my subway trips, but I'm not sure if I can finish it. Where do you read your book these days?

My book selection is purely personal. I don't really want a book as a gift unless it is one I already wanted. And the selection isn't even for my personal self, but rather for my creation. I naturally choose books that I feel might do something to my art and creative thinking.

Well, except for this one person, a good friend from Japan, who has been giving me books he has read and liked, both in Japanese and English. He has never failed to make me appreciate the books he gives me.

At this moment, it is private and highly exclusive. But one day, I want to have an area in my atelier where people can come and take a look at the books on my shelf.

I don't know. It's already mid-September, and I'm still only on page 23. But I do like this book.

From the exhibition Sojourn by Tim Kent at Hollis Taggart Gallery, followed by a private after-gathering.

Although it has been an extremely busy few months for me, with so many things going on, I am glad I made it to the exhibition opening. I was there two years ago as well.

Pink Blue Sky 1

Pink Blue Sky 2

The sky has different colors and a different scale in different places. In New York City, the colors are more vivid in the evening than they are in Tokyo. The colors also seem to shift more quickly in New York City.

Last night, a farewell dinner a few hours before my friend flew back to Japan. 

It was great to see a peaceful, creative new place designed and opened by my friend. To me, I love art, believe in it, dedicate myself to it, and belong to it. But many of the friends I love aren't necessarily painters or sculptors. What we share is a good heart, passion, and an appreciation for people's creations in our hearts.

A camera shop in Midtown. It always makes me excited to visit, even if I only have a short time. It is conveniently located not too far from the gallery area in Chelsea.

These days, I enjoy carrying my old compact digital camera. Older cameras are, in terms of mechanics in general, simpler and have fewer capabilities, but they are less fragile and more reliable.

Happy September, everyone! I look forward to seeing you at the art fair or talking to you again in my October blog.

—Natsumi