Matsushima based sculptor Misato Sano is one incredible artist not to miss. Originally from Tagajo, Miyagi, Misato-san relocated to Matsushima in 2017 and was lucky enough to find a divine two storey building perfect for both making art and living. Her landlord, a friend of a friend, is a local neighbour and frequently pops in to loan her tools that she uses to create her timber sculptures.
Misato-san has always been creative since a childhood age. She says that art gave her a form of confidence. “I started making art because I wanted to understand myself better and create a deeper connection with myself. I went to art school because I liked drawing since I was young. But as I got older, I discovered that working in a 3D format, I could more freely convey my feelings. So I decided to major in sculpture in art school.”
During the summer months Misato-san uses the first floor’s timber workshop to create beautiful hand carved timber sculptures. She prefers to use mostly camphor wood which is found in Kyushu. Misato-san chooses this wood because she adores the fragrance and it’s natural grain. This type of tree is planted in select and frequently sacred places such as shrines and temples and grows to a very large size. As a result, when Misato-san is working with this timber, she is careful with the spiritual timber and feels as if she is able to receive a certain power from its sacred origins. Using a Nomi chisel, Misato-san slowly and carefully hand carves each sculpture, chipping away piece by piece. Applying multiple layers of light oil paint that still allows the grain of the natural timber to show through, Misato-san purposely uses scale to make the dogs eyes tiny inviting viewers to peek and lean in closely to create a sense of intimacy between the viewer and the sculpture.
During the colder winter months, when working on sculptures on the first floor becomes too cold, Misato-san moves to her second floor and engages in embroidery and drawing art, still continuing with the theme of dogs. During her college years Misato-san experimented with creating sculptures in the forms of various animals eventually discovering that the essence of dogs seemed to match her personality the most.
“When dogs decide who their family or closest people are”, Misato-san says, “they protect them and form a strong bond of trust. I wanted to create that same feeling within myself. I also like to create a mixture of serious and playful sculptures and I feel like I’m able to do that using the form of a dog.”Her work has been exhibited in both America and Japan with pieces in private collections in Spain, New Zealand and America.
Not only is Misato-san an incredible artist, her daily life itself could be seen as an art form. Her house is adorned with approximately 50 plants which she lovingly cares for. Misato-san loves the way that plants bring life to her room. Watching the plants grow like small living beings brings her a sense of joy. Some of her favourite plants are staghorn ferns and pencil milk bush. “When I’m making sculptures or other art” Misato-san says, “I’m creating and producing, which is a form of output, using a lot of my living power. I balance this by watching my plants grow from day to day and season to season. It replenishes my energy” She continues; “Also, I like learning by watching and spending time with my plants and coming to know exactly what they need and where in my house they want to be.”
It is not only her art creation that the weather has an effect on, but also her daily routine. In the summer days she spends her mornings skateboarding on a local cement ledge built next to the water. Although this ledge was built after the 2011 tsunami as a way of protection, the area has come to be re-purposed as a kind of recreational fun spot for skateboarders.
Misato-san also finds a way to turn her daily cooking into an art form. Each day on her instagram, Misato-san documents her carefully and beautifully presented home cooked meals using seasonal ingredients. If you’re lucky you will see a snippet of her daily life on her instagram, where she might receive some ingredients from a local neighbour, and then soon after you can see the meal that Misato-san has created using these ingredients.
When she is not making art, skating, cooking, caring for her plants or working at a local coffee shop, Misato-san is out exploring Matsushima. She adores the gifts that nature provides. On one of my recent visits she took me to see her special ammonite fossil. Later the same day we visited a rock near Zuiganji temple that has a naturally created window in the rock. And finally, we spent the evening creating Shimekazari together using found fallen pine cones and Matsu from Matsushima.
Asked why she adores living in Matsuhima, Misato-san replies “It’s quiet and near both the ocean and mountains. My neighbors are nice. I like that it’s a historical and traditional place that has been protected and preserved, this energy gives me a lot of inspiration.”
Some of her favourite recommendations of spots to visit in the area are Saigyo modoshi no Matsu park in the spring for cherry blossoms and the first sunrise of the year. She also enjoys Okara donuts from okara koubou
Matsushima and Castella Shokado kashiten. If you go to the shops in Matsushima with Misato-san you will notice that she is well known and adored by all the shop keepers. She especially likes chatting with the florist at Botanical People, the tofu maker at Makabe tofu shop which has been going for 60 years, and she is a frequent visitor at Harrys Junction burger shop.
Misato-san is also regularly involved in community projects and does a yearly workshop every year at towns summer festival. The charming lifestyle of Misato-san makes you want to move to Matsushima!
Misato Sano
https://sanomisato.com
Ebony Bizys
http://www.hellosandwich.jp