Fuzuki Arai
Fuzuki Arai is a Japanese artist whose work is deeply rooted in the ancient spiritual practice of Shugendo. This unique Japanese religion blends elements of Buddhism (particularly esoteric traditions), Taoism, and Shinto, emphasizing ascetic training in the natural world to attain spiritual enlightenment.
Arai’s artistic journey began in her childhood when an unexplained leg ailment confined her indoors. During this time, she immersed herself in drawing, and miraculously, her condition improved. This experience ignited a profound curiosity about the interconnectedness of mind and body, leading her to explore the depths of human existence and the path of Shugendo.
Shugendo practices often involve the blowing of a conch horn (horagai). The resonating sound of the horagai is believed to dispel worldly desires and ward off evil influences. Arai’s personal experience with the horagai revealed its power to harmonize with the surrounding environment, evoking vivid imagery of light.
Her artistic process is deeply intertwined with these experiences. Each artwork begins with an exploration of sound, translating the resonations of the horagai into visual forms on the canvas. The titles of her pieces often reflect the spiritual insights or “truths” she gains during this process.
Through her art, Fuzuki Arai seeks to create a bridge between herself and the viewer, inviting them to connect with the deeper spiritual dimensions of existence.
EDUCATION
2002 Tama Art University, Information Design, Japan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Everything is Connected Exhibition 2023”, Night Out Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2022 “Galaxy Words Exhibition 2022”, Ginza 7th building gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2021 “Galaxy Words Exhibition 2021”, Hama House, Tokyo, Japan
2019 “Dual exhibit”, Whitestone Ginza New Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2019 “ALL IS IN YOURSELF EXHIBITION”, Hama House, Tokyo, Japan
2016 “Fuzuki Arai Exhibition”, Gallery Darmado, Tokyo, Japan
2014 “Flower Project”, D-labo Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo, Japan
2014 “Flower Project”, Consulate General of Japan, New York, United States of America
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 “Abstract Mind“, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Gimpo, South Korea
2025 “Marginal Art Fair Fukushima Hirono“, Futatsunuma General Park, Hirono
2024 “Peru Biennale“, Aeronautical Museum of Peru, Peru
2023 “Order & Chaos”, Art Collide, Wilmington
2022 “Abstract Art“, Collect art, Tbilisi, Georgia
2022 “WONDERS“, The Holy Art gallery, London, UK
2022 “Asia Digital Art Award”, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
2021 “Katsushika Hokusai and Next Generation Artists”, Hokusai Museum, Nagano, Japan
2020 “Independent Tokyo 2020”, Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center, Tokyo, Japan
2018 “MONROE ART”, Nakameguro Lounge, Tokyo, Japan
2015 “Arab Week 2015 Art Exhibition”, Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman, Tokyo, Japan
2002 “Information Design Artworks”, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
2001 “Double-Takes”, About Cafe, Bangkok, Thailand
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Enjoying the color” Artwork Gallery Magazine, June, 2024
“The Expansion of Consciousness: Heading Towards Radiance” Geijutsu Shincho, December, 2023
“ONBEAT Feature” ONBEAT vol.18 , May. 2023
“Abstract Art Artists” Collect art Magazine, November. 2022
“Flowing jewelry box” Bijutsutecho, November. 2020
“Global fighting artists” D-labo Magazine, August. 2014
“Tokyo Artists” Art4D Magazine Thailand, September. 2001
LECTURES/PRESENTATION
2014 “Disaster and Art”, D-labo Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo, Japan
2007 “Dance and Development”, Akha Christians Church, Mae Suai District, Thailand
AWARDS
2024 Awarded the Charter of Transdisciplinarity 30th Anniversary Commemorative Award by the UNESCO Chair in Transdisciplinarity
2015 Certificate of Appreciation from the Ambassador of the State of Palestine and the Ambassador of Sultanate of Oman
VOLUNTEER
Flower project
Welcome to the intracellular galaxy
Tamotsu Yoshimori (life scientist)
All of Arai’s drawings are wonderful. The ‘Galaxy Words’ he draws connect us directly to the universe and remind me of the expanse inside the cell. For us life scientists, the inside of a 10 micrometre (1/100th of a millimetre) cell, too small to see, is the universe. This is not a metaphor, but a complex and elaborate system (society) of vast numbers of miniscule molecules.
Arai expands his consciousness from me → home → region → Japan → cosmos → galaxy → spirit world → heavenly world → world of Kami (fire and water), heaven (source, creator, etc., names differ around the world), but by turning our research consciousness inwards, we can also see the existence of me → organs and tissue → cells → organelles (organs within cells) → supramolecular complex → macromolecules, etc. The organisms come into existence.
When we combine these two, we realise that the universe is connected in every direction and that the human body is just the right size.
Art and science may seem like polar opposites. , but they are in fact one and the same. Both arose from the fundamental human instinct – the intellectual desire to know this universe/world, to understand all that is invisible beneath the surface, to make the unknowable knowable, the invisible visible.
It is said that when people see Arai’s galactic symbols or images, they involuntarily clasp their hands or weep. Despite the lack of any explanation, many people from home and abroad visit the exhibition through social networking services. This kind of healing, which has nothing to do with marketing, probably occurs because Arai makes present “something” that exists in this universe, but which is unknowable and invisible.
Mendel predicted the existence of invisible genes in the 18th century (now confirmed to be real), and mankind actually witnessed the black hole predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity a hundred years later. Science is also a means of manifesting ‘galactic characters’.
Autophagy, my speciality, is the cell’s internal material-degrading machinery. Cells are gradually broken down by autophagy every day, and the broken down parts are immediately synthesised by another apparatus. In other words, the cell repeats partial death and regeneration, although its appearance remains the same, and in a few tens of days it becomes a completely new cell.
This process keeps cells in a normal state (homeostasis) and humans, which are made up of 37 trillion healthy cells,. If autophagy declines and the replacement of parts stops, cells quickly deteriorate and humans suffer from disease and aging . Autophagy, like Shiva, the god of destruction, is what keeps us alive.
Arai’s paintings resemble cellular renewal by autophagy in that they break down our world-perception, which has become obsolete due to being stuck in a frame, to show us what we have not seen and to elevate our spirit to a new horizon.
Life changes and evolves with great flexibility in order to maintain homeostasis and adapt to the environment at the same time. The dazzling diversity of life is truly a marvel of nature. I feel the same dynamics in Arai’s works. Light and darkness are depicted at the same time, and the dichotomy of light and darkness continues to grow and expand within the viewer. It is neither closed nor complete, but vibrating, transient and dynamic like life, showing the observer, the universe, and shaking the soul.
The process of creating Arai’s paintings is itself similar to the methodology of science. New ideas are born through free discussions and frank exchanges of opinions, free from the confines of common sense, and science is advanced. Arai says that he usually tries to eliminate his ego as much as possible in order to unload images based on his intuition. For this reason, Arai has recently been practising waterfall asceticism and blowing conch shells in the nature of various regions, as if he were an ascetic monk in the monastic tradition.
Arai travels around the world, absorbing the essence of each place, and uses the appropriate materials for each work, such as Japanese paper, digital, acrylic and gold leaf. He uses a variety of materials, such as Japanese paper, digital, acrylic and gold leaf, as if he were a life scientist studying a variety of species, from yeast to human cells, and making full use of various techniques such as MRI and electron microscopy.
Modern science cannot explain why Galaxy Words shake the spirit of the beholder. Just as Jung’s synchronicity – meaningful coincidence – cannot be explained. But, as is often misunderstood, scientists do not deny what science cannot explain.
They neither deny nor affirm, they just say it cannot be explained now. However, we have been able to see that genes and black holes, which are inconceivable to common sense, do indeed exist, thanks to the evolution of technology. We may need to transcend current reductionist science, but one day we will surely be able to know and understand the principles of Galaxy Words.
Tamotsu Yoshimori, PhD.
Cell biologist. Distinguished Professor in Graduate School of Fronter Biosciences/Medicine, Osaka University. He was awarded a Medal with Purple Ribbon and so on. He has contributed to elucidating the enigma of autophagy as a pioneer in the field together with the Nobel winner Yoshinori Ohsumi.