Natsumi Kobayashi
Artist Interview
Natsumi Kobayashi
Tokyo Based Artist - Mono print
1, You once said that it suited you to depict your own distinctive inner sensibility abstractly reflected through the printing process using a single line with a sense of guidance. Now that several years have passed, is your dialogue with printmaking still the same?
I don’t quite remember what I said back then, but recently I feel that I place more importance on the nature of layering rather than deciding a form completely, and on my relationship with the paper. The motif itself still exists, but now I think of it as something borrowed for the movement of perspective.
2, The landscapes you draw, structured around the horizon line, are delicate and subtly mysterious. As the viewer’s eye follows the lines, it feels as throuh one is carried by their rhythm and drawn into the painting, an intriguing sensation. By layering simple materials as though printmaking, depth emerges and the work allows room for play on the viewer’s side. This approach is very compelling, and it feels like the result of many years of experience and effort as an artist. Could you tell us about a major turning point that led you to expressing so much with a single line?
This isn’t really about my production process, but perhaps it was having my own small garden, even a modest one. For me, longing for distant landscapes and carefully observing a fixed point close at hand are both equally important. When those two connect, it feels as though a simplicity that had sunk under complicated thoughts slowly rises to the surface.
3, You previously worked with plants during your time in landscaping, and you’ve mentioned that a lecture by horticulturist Paul Smither deeply influenced you particularly his words: “Flowers bloom for only a brief miracle once a year, so if you want to create a landscape, don’t look at flowers, look at grasses.” Since then, you’ve said you tend to look at grasses in any situation and often choose them as motifs when creating landscapes in your work. Are there any plants or places in recent years that have particularly stayed with you or moved you?
Around summer, a single pokeweed (yamagogō) grew among the weeds on the other side of my home fence. No one touched it, and I enjoyed watching it grow every day into this monster-like shape, over two meters tall. A place I like is an area near Ōhama Beach in Kanagawa Prefecture, the neighboring prefecture to Tokyo, where suddenly very thin, delicate grasses grow in clusters.
4, In this series, some works were born from experiences and inspirations from your visit to New Zealand two years ago, when you also held an exhibition there. What left the strongest impression on you during that trip?
During my previous stay in New Zealand, walking together almost constantly with the ceramic artist Kanako Yoshida and the owner, Yuka, was a very significant experience for me.
The two of them were always talking about the soil beneath our feet, the hot spring water, and the differences in how the colors of black sand and black seaweed come into being. Rather than focusing on the visible form of what appeared before us, they spoke about the invisible reactions that are continually unfolding in that place.
Because of this, the journey made me aware that what we see as perfectly beautiful in the moment is actually just a single fragment of a landscape stretched across a long span of time. It was a wonderful experience, and I’m deeply grateful for it.
5, Is there a part of the monotype print process that you especially enjoy?
I create my works by layering many plates, and I love the feeling that each time I peel one away, it’s like seeing a new landscape. Even if the lines are drawn one by one in the preliminary drawing, once they become a plate, they appear all at once as a single layer of scenery.
6, Are there any tools you particularly like or are attached to in your process?
My tools are quite simple, and there’s nothing especially unusual, but the one tool I’ve customized myself is a bamboo skewer that I use for drawing fine lines. I dip the bamboo skewer in gum arabic and draw lines with it, shaving down the tip so the thickness is just right—strong enough to hold up on the surface. I’ve tried glass pens as well, but for now, this bamboo skewer feels like the best tool for drawing lines.
7, Your works seem to encapsulate your lived sensations within the print itself, existing side by side with the present moment. When imagining your past and future series displayed together, it feels as though they might someday become a kind of album of memories which is very exciting to think about. Are there any experiences, places you’d like to visit, or challenges you’d like to take on in the future that could become catalysts for your work?
I love wild roses and have grown several varieties. I’d like to visit places where they grow naturally. They seem to be found in the western part of North America or New Mexico, for example, where Woods’ Rose grows. I really admire that kind of wilderness. Recently, I’ve also become interested in fountains, and I’d like to go on a kind of fountain tour.
8, You’ve said that you enjoy hearing how different viewers interpret your work, and that you like talking with them while you’re present at the gallery. Is there anything you’d especially like to convey through this exhibition, or a message for audiences in New Zealand?
Because my work is made up of layers of simple forms, rather than saying “this represents something specific,” I hope viewers use the image and the title as entry points to overlap the work with landscapes from their own memories. They might remember a certain place, recall moments from that time, what they ate then—and I love hearing those stories. I would be very happy if I could have that kind of exchange with viewers.
I’m also deeply grateful for the opportunity to bring my work with me to New Zealand. I created these pieces while repeatedly recalling the space of Public Record. I’d be delighted if people could see them again, and I’m also looking forward to learning more about New Zealand myself, step by step.
Thank you Natsumi for coming to NZ, Thank you for the beautiful works.
Feb, 2026
