In the world seen from above, all living things shine equally. Do not let the illusions of your brain despise your brilliant soul.
Miwa KomatsuMiwa Komatsu
Miwa Komatsu grew up in Nagano surrounded by Japan's highest mountains. With art, she searches for connections with the unseen and eternal. Her practice grew from the revelation that art can live forever – prompted by encounters with the writings of philosophers past and present. From this moment, Miwa realised that her artworks would one day become relics of her own.
Miwa rings a bell at the entrance to a sakaki (divine tree) shrine in Nagano, Japan.
Painting live in London
Miwa works in a mediative state. Her artworks are unplanned – painted in direct response to her surroundings and filled with mythical creatures, sacred geometries and esoteric symbols. Her creation in Fitzrovia Chapel is the latest in a series of live paintings staged at locations of spiritual significance around the world, from Itsukushima Shrine to Mont-Saint-Michel.
Fitzrovia Chapel
Fitzrovia Chapel was built in 1891 as part of the now-demolished Middlesex Hospital. Small but spectacular, the building was designed by John Loughborough Pearson then completed by his son and apprentice, Frank. Unusually, the chapel was never consecrated, meaning that throughout history it has remained open to all as a space for peace and contemplation.
For a period of time, Fitzrovia Chapel stood alone in the void left behind by the demolition of Middlesex Hospital in London.
The chapel's interior includes 17 types of marble, assembled beneath vaulted ceilings adorned with gold mosaic.
Sacred Connectedness
Miwa painted Sacred Connectedness in eight hours as thousands of collectors watched from around the world. Unfazed by her audience, she drew inspiration from the chapel, and the spirits it summoned within her meditative state.
In the days that followed, Miwa worked closely with printmakers at Make-Ready in London to transform her painting into a limited edition print – offering collectors a chance, for the first time, to collect the artwork they had seen emerge in real time.
I saw the dove effortlessly crossing borders imposed by humans as a symbol of unity.
Miwa Komatsu
