Ayako Bando

Initially, my artwork was painted with acrylics on the theme of nature. I often expressed how I felt through the four seasons. Recently, I have been working mainly on the "Eternal Light Series," which I started in 2014. I choose motifs from nature using acrylic and oil paints. I have heard that the soul remains forever even if it leaves the body. I started this series thinking that the soul is the inner light and the sun is the outer light of us humans and nature. When we are born, we are all pure, but as we grow older and older, we tend to lose the pure part of ourselves. And although life has its ebbs and flows, somehow on a sunny day, even when we are down in the dumps, we suddenly feel a little brighter, and at such times, the light of our soul resonates with the light of the sun, and our inner light grows louder and our purity also grows. I hope so. Since 2018, I have been drawing the motif of iris in this "Eternal Light Series. I heard that the language of flowers of iris contains the meaning of hope. I heard that hope is the power to overcome harsh destiny. I truly believe that living positively with hope is very important from now on. I want to be like that, and I hope that you will be like that, too. In 2020, I also started collaging with washi paper and started collaging on paintings with washi paper. On the washi, I hand-tear prints of my past works and photographic images of nature and collage them together. The past works become a part of new works again, and are born anew. And the edges of the washi also give softness to the work. In 2025, there has been a slight change again and I tried changing the usual white background as light to a warm coral color. Coral is a sea plant that needs light. The meaning of the color seems to include cooperation, connection, and kindness. In this way, I believe the Eternal Light series will continue to change, letting nature take its course.