Shintaro Ohata is one of these artists who will show you something new, who will inspire you, either through a raw and obvious talent or/and because something gets taken to the next level, high, so high it is not reachable by the common creative soul.

Painting meets sculpture or is it rather sculpture redefines painting, I am actually not sure. I am looking at Shintaro Ohata’s works with interest. I then learn that the sculpture elements in his work are actually made of polystyrene and the actual painting is mainly made of acrylic.

This series of works depicts every day scenes of people going about their business but these become much more than that under the artist’s direction. The 3D effect that is created by the sculpted elements, mainly humans or animals, is disconcerting and confuse you as to what you are looking at – a sculpture with a painted background or a painting which includes a sculpture element.

The fusion of the two mediums is pretty remarkable here. Kneel down and look straight and you might not realise that there is a sculpture element, so much so that painting and sculpture elements are binding each other but take a few steps back and the 3D angle is now clear and the artwork has got a completely different feel to it.

We cannot wait for Shintaro Ohata to have a show in London

First seen on Arrested Motion