artist

Born in Kobe in 1921, Tomiyama was an only child who says she started to draw for want of having any playmates, but also because her mother loved doing beautiful embroidery. Her father drew cartoons as his hobby and sometimes invited friends who were professional suibokuga (Indian ink) artists to stay over.

China's Cai Guo-Qiang opts for more thrilling materials than traditional paint, clay or plaster, say. Instead, Cai has mastered the art of gunpowder, fireworks and other pyrotechnics (not to mention taxidermy).

Poetic yet disturbing, bloody yet seductive. Since 1993 the Japanese photographer Izima Kaoru has been creating scenes of sophisticated violence and enchanting horror. Landscapes with a Corpse is the title of his project. He invited actresses and models to reveal to him their fantasies about a perfect death: above all he asked them which designer clothes they would like to wear when they died.

Japanese artist Kenji Yanobe (ヤノベケンジ Yanobe Kenji) is famous for his upbeat yet nightmarish artwork. His sculpture simulates consumer products designed for survival after a nuclear holocaust.

William Blake wrote, 'They must always believe a lie, who see with, not through the eye.' Imagine the possibilities if the adverse of that statement were true. How profoundly could those who see 'through' the eye perceive the richness and depth of truth. Mako Fujimura has spent a lifetime of seeing 'through' the remarkable gift of his eye.