Akira Inumaru
"My dear garden"

Taming the light, touching the rainbow… A poetic, metaphorical approach that has guided Akira Inumaru in his creative process. In light he sees the origin of colour, the origin of life, which he constantly explores through different processes. His signature solar distillation process consists of inviting the sun to make colour appear, to create life, using a magnifying glass to burn different layers of coloured sheets. Disappearance gives rise to revelation Revelations that he also explores through drawing, painting and more.

Nature is the obvious object of this gaze, through which light is seen as a source of life and colour. Plants have been central to his work for over ten years.

What better source of inspiration, then, than a garden, where every spring nature is reborn for a life cycle, and where the light is never truly the same, playing at his leisure with the perceptions of those who walk the avenues… During his spring residence at Villandry, Inamaru will capture the essence of these century-old gardens, their structures and planting, taming the light of day here, the light of the night, the shadows, to present “My dear garden” at the château this summer. My dear garden

A visual artist and graduate of Suidobata Academy of Fine Arts and Musashino Art University in Japan, Akira Inumaru continued his training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, followed by the École Supérieure d’Art et Design Le Havre/Rouen. He has lived in Normandy for nearly ten years, and regularly presents his solar and botanical work to the public. His recent exhibitions include: “Botanique” at the Orangerie de Sénat in Paris (2018), “L’arc-en-ciel des plantes” [“The Rainbow of Plants”] at La Fabrique des Savoirs in Elbeuf (2018), “Jardins flottants” [“Floating Gardens”] at the Musée Michel Ciry in Varengeville-sur-mer (2022) and “Cimes et racines” [“Tops and Roots”] at the Saint-Ouen de Rouen abbatial church (2022).

Exhibition to discover as part of the visit of the château.