Price On Request Tarpaulin, giclee, acrylic, gouache medium 57 x 57 in (145 x 145 cm)Kazuki Takamatsu was born in 1978 in Sendai, and studied oil painting at the Tohoku University of Art & Design, graduating in 2001. He is known for his haunting, ethereal images of nymph-like Japanese girls floating on jet-black backgrounds. Takamatsu is part of a new generation of Japanese artists who grew up with and celebrates the country’s pop culture, and his signature imagery is inspired by the illustrations in Japanese girl’s comics. In his work, Takamatsu combines traditional techniques such as drawing, airbrush and gouache painting, with modern computer graphics – specifically, a 3D imaging technique known as “depth mapping” in which each individual pixel becomes a shade of grey proportional to the distance from which it is viewed. Takamatsu recreates on canvas scenes that were first rendered on computer imaging software, resulting in multi-layered, hologram-like figures that appear digitized but are in fact meticulously executed in countless transparent layers of gouache and acrylic, painted entirely by hand. Takamatsu explores themes such as youth, spirituality and contemporary society. Recent series have addressed issues of race and religion; puberty; the emotional disconnect between the old and adolescent generations of Japan; and youth cultures.