We would love to visit Natsumi Tomita‘s “The Small Forest” exhibition at Gallery 412. Yes, it is an exhibition full of cute animal sculptures but Natusumi Tomita’s work is really quite unique. The animal sculptures are made out of found materials from kitchen utensils, household items, broken umbrellas, bottle caps, and other random things she found in the street. The animals are so life-like but at the same time delightfully playful. We think she also captures emotion in her sculptures as well; the tiny monkeys looks very cheerful while the mother and baby Orang-utan display an emotional connection.

Natsumi Tomita: The Small Forest

Natsumi Tomita says, “Each of these things, which we usually use everyday, once had a story, until they were thrown away.  There are bicycles that were once ridden, broken dustpans, signboards from loan sharks, lost umbrellas.  Every object had purpose and meaning before they were tossed away.

“Taking these things that I collect, I connect them and create new life from them.  For this reason the animals that are born in this way are my children.  I have given them each a name, and they all live together in the living room of my house.

“I would like you not to see, but to feel my works.  I hope that you touch them, move them, and enjoy them.  I want to remove the distance between artwork and the people looking at them.”

We love how she wants her audience to feel her work and I think there is a lot of love and care when she “created new life” for old rubbish and waste. The discarded items from our daily life have a second chance as a new life-form with a new name and all live happily in Natsumi Tomita’s living room.

VIA Mymodernmet.com, NODAContemporary

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