Amin Abbas
Not many would like to remember the time when COVID-19 created havoc all over the world.
Most people would like to just brush it under the carpet as a forgotten chapter, but in Elena’s case it was a turning point in her career. The Japanese took up the brush and found solace in painting.
“What made me become a professional was the spread of COVID-19 around the world. I couldn’t go to school, so I started to paint every day. When the whole world was filled with despair, painting gave me hope,” Elena told Arab News Japan.
Elena, a Japanese artist, was born in 1998 in Madrid, Spain but grew up in Tokyo, Japan. As a child, she expressed herself through drawing, dancing, and music, but her passion has always been studio art.
After independently doodling and painting throughout her childhood, Elena was recruited to an art group at Gyokuryu High School in Kagoshima, Japan where she learned basic skills and techniques. Her oil paintings received several awards.
She began her professional career as an artist in 2021 while working as a customer representative at a major Japanese Kimono retail company, but is now focusing solely on art.
Her signature characters, Chibi-chan (tiny creatures) were inspired by her childhood drawings. Elena’s main work is acrylic, but after completing a mural installation at Moment, a bar in Tokyo in 2021, she has been inspired to create more public art and is currently collaborating with artists from all over the world on an instillation project for a hospital in Chiba, Japan.
She holds BA in Intercultural Studies from Gakushuin Women’s College.
Speaking to Arab News Japan, Elena shared her inspiration for art: “I have loved drawing since I was a child. What made me become a professional was the spread of COVID-19 around the world. I couldn’t go to school, so I started to paint every day. When the whole world was filled with despair, painting gave me hope.”
About the establishment of her career in art, Elena said: “I started working professionally in 2022. My concept is mixing good old tradition and modern pop art, art that will bring all people back to their childhood.
“The first assignment that I worked on was painting the walls of the hospital in Chiba in order to create a happy atmosphere for patients, doctors and nurses.”
Elena mentioned that the hospital project was challenging as it was difficult to work with art materials she had never used before, and under strict time limits and other restrictions.
About the most inspirational thing from Japanese culture that she has adapted into her daily life, Elena said: “It’s definitely Ukiyoe! It’s the pride of Japanese art.”
Elena was one of the Japanese artists who was invited at the World Art Dubai 2024. It was the first time she was participating in the event.
She said: “This was my first time in Dubai. People in the Middle East are very kind and considerate. I would like to learn more about the culture and history of the Middle East.”
Elena is planning to hold solo exhibitions in Japan as well as participate in some exhibitions in the UAE.
About her recommendations for those who want to learn about art, Elena said, “Read books that interest you. And I think it is best to come to Japan and experience the real thing.”