Four students from Visual Arts College of Performing and Visual Arts Major were selected for the 89th New Creation Exhibition.

At the 89th New Creation Exhibition (September 16–28, The National Art Center), works by four artists—Ayae Oyama, Anri Nikaido, Perez Matabuena Hania, and Rika Maeji—were selected for the 4th year of College of Performing and Visual Arts Visual Arts Major.

 

The New Creation Exhibition is one of the largest open call exhibitions in Japan, gathering outstanding works from all over Japan. Kei Sazen In the "Graduation Research I (Visual Arts)" course led by an associate professor, I challenged the exhibition as the culmination of four years of learning. Four works were selected in the sculpture division "35³—Sango Cube—," which presents sculptural expression in a 35cm cubic space, as well as in the general open call category.

 

The four selected artists were still exploring their own paths and methods of expression before entering university. However, in an environment where College of Performing and Visual Arts could challenge themselves with a wide variety of creative activities, they experienced various fields and began studying three-dimensional sculpture as a specialist at university, honing their expression.

 

For the four women, who were submitting their work to an open call exhibition for the first time, they all agreed that "it was because we had an environment where we could challenge ourselves in various fields that we were able to discover a new side of ourselves." Having been greatly inspired by the excellent works and creators gathered from all over the country, they expressed their eagerness to continue actively challenging themselves in creative activities in the future.

 
[Associate Professor Sazen's Comment]
The "New Creation Exhibition" held at the National Art Center, Tokyo is a historic public exhibition celebrating its 89th year this year. Among the many open exhibitions, it is known as one of Japan's highest-level exhibitions, with extremely high entry barriers and a very high selection of "carefully selected" works gathered together. This year, four students were selected for the first time in this challenging competition. Students from Sazen Seminar, which deals in three-dimensional sculpture, viewed professional sculptures for the first time during their third-year seminar training. Inspired by that excitement, they devoted themselves to creating works in the spring semester of their fourth year to exhibit at this exhibition. Being selected amid a battle-hardened competition among seasoned professionals is an extremely valuable and wonderful achievement. Furthermore, this time, we received proud news that an alumnus who had not given up on the path of art while graduating and starting work continued to challenge themselves during work breaks to create art again. I look forward to seeing the achievements of these seniors and peers serve as positive inspiration for Visual Arts Major as a whole, and further expand my passion for expression.