Eshi - Japanese Drawing Craftsman

Yoshinori Okada is a Japanese painter. Trained in oil painting, he now creates works across a variety of traditional Japanese forms and spaces, including hanging scrolls, folding screens, kimono, temple ceiling paintings, and fusuma sliding doors. At the heart of his work is a theme he describes as “the preservation of the Japanese spirit and sense of beauty.” This film follows Okada as he paints directly onto a yukata and a maneki-neko, or beckoning cat. Through the process of creating each work, the film explores the Japanese aesthetics Okada engages with and his approach to carrying culture forward through painting.