The Mind’s Eye is a solo exhibition of Nao Nakamura’s original Kawa-kewai-shi style artwork. The name in English means roughly, “quite like putting make-up on leather” style. She uses untreated, thick saddle leather and then applies a unique process, utilizing tools heated up to 700 degrees Celsius. She aims to preserve as much of the original piece of leather that she can, throwing nothing away. Nao doesn’t think of it as painting or as leather work, but as somewhere in between and a mixture of both, because of the various processes and materials she utilizes.

Embracing both Japanese Buddhist and Shinto traditions and also Christian symbols, in this collection one can see various spiritual themes. Nao grew up experiencing all these various traditions from her family and the people around her. For Nao, this confluence of different religions did not provoke questions of which one is better, but rather, a feeling of harmony in seeing how they could all peacefully co-exist.

Artist’s Bio: Nao Nakamura was born and lives in Osaka, Japan. From the age of three she studied extensively under various artists and experts in drawing, painting, Chinese inks, monochrome designs, watercolors, oil paints, cardboard matting and collage. She worked in one of the top fashion companies in Japan for years before deciding to use her training and passion for art to create her own made-to-order leather artworks company, NEON. Since 2010, she has been based out of New York with three previous exhibitions.