Life is unpredictable. Shimaoka Fumie draws the universe with a pen in hand in "Listening Museum #8"

"HERALBONY TONE FROM MUSEUM ~Listening Museum~" is a podcast that launched this spring and focuses on artists contracted to the welfare experimental company Heralbony.

Sara Ogawa, an actor, filmmaker, and writer, and Takaya Matsuda, CEO of HERALBONY, will be the interviewers. As they listen carefully to the art, they will touch upon the personality and life story of this "unique artist" that can be seen beyond his work.

Our guests this time are Shimaoka Fumie, an unconventional artist known for her style of ever-expanding delicate patterns, and her mother, Hisako. We asked her about her unique production style and her memorable "motto."

# Fumie's friends

Takaya: Our guest today is Shimaoka Fumie, an artist who lives in Osaka.

Ogawa: (Looking at the work on an iPad) Wow, it's so intricate.

Shimaoka Fumie "Space"

Takaya: By connecting small circles and cells, you can depict things you like and even your feelings. Like geometric patterns, like the veins of a leaf. It's a worldview that's like a biological cell enlarged.

Ogawa: The world view is like a magnified view of a living organism's cells, and it's very colorful.

Takaya: That's right! Fumie-san will be appearing remotely from Osaka with her mother.

Hisako: (through the screen) Nice to meet you!

Ogawa: Fumie-san waved at me! Thank you very much. And please say hello to your mother too.

Takaya: There's no problem with your mother speaking up, so thank you very much.

Ogawa: So, today I'd like to hear about various aspects of your work, but first of all, do you live in Osaka?

Hisako: Yes, that's right.

Ogawa: Are you currently creating your works mainly at home?

Hisako: Yes. During the day, I go to the workshop. (To Fumie) What were I doing? Buttons and stuff?

Fumie: Buttons, etc.

Hisako: Screws?

Fumie: Like putting it in.

Hisako: Then, when I get home and we all eat dinner, I start drawing little by little while watching TV.

Takaya: I visited you the other day and you were drawing at your own pace while watching TV. I want to ask you something straight away, Fumie. You once said something like "I get called in before I start drawing," right?

Hisako: That's right, they tell you to draw it, right?

Fumie: Yes. (smiles a little)

Takaya: Ah, it looks like he's laughing.

Hisako: You can just hear a voice say, "What if we did this?"

Takaya: I see.

Hisako: I just start drawing something without any prior thought about what I want to draw or how I want to draw it.

Ogawa: Do you do that as part of your daily life while watching TV?

Hisako: That's right. Every day, I draw while watching TV or videos, listening to my Walkman, or playing games.

Ogawa: Wow. What do you use to create such detailed pictures?

Hisako: This is it. Fumi, can you show me a bit? (Takes out a picture)

Ogawa: Wow! It's the real thing. What are you using to draw it?

Hisako: I use ultra-fine Mackie and water-based pens. (To Fumie) Do you draw anything else?

Fumie: Well, my friends...

Hisako: They would tell me things like, "You should do it like this." My friends would say, "You should paint this," or "You should use this color."

Takaya: I want friends who will tell me, "You should do it this way." When did friends start to appear in your heart, Fumie?

Fumie: Not in our hearts, but just regular friends.

Hisako: It's not just in your heart, it's always there, right?

Takaya: When you say always there, do you mean like being next to them?

Fumie: J SOUL BROTHERS.

Ogawa: Wow, Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS are our friends!

Takaya: You can add a lot of different people to your team.

Hisako: Yeah. You love EXILE, don't you?

Takaya: I was really happy when I received a Valentine's gift from Fumie (laughs).

Ogawa: Oh, my heart belongs to Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS (laughs).

Takaya: No, no! Thank you! When did you start drawing?

Hisako: I wonder when it started? I'm not sure, but this (shows her her work).

Takaya: Wow, that's amazing!

Hisako: When I went to the Cup Noodles factory and drew something for the first time and brought it home, the other kids were amazed and said, "Wow!" On the back of the drawing, I wrote June 7, 2014, so that's like proof.

Ogawa: How old were you then?

Hisako: I wonder how old I am. I'm 39 now, so 9 years ago I was 30.

Takaya: It's amazing. This piece, with its geometric patterns spread across the noodles of a cup noodle, is your debut work.

Hisako: Yes, that's right. I think it's the oldest of the remaining works.

Ogawa: When your family saw this painting, did they think it was amazing?

Hisako: Actually, it didn't end up like that, but it seems that he started drawing from this point.

Takaya: Fumie, did you receive any instructions from someone at that time? Or did you just draw it based on your own sensibilities?

Hisako: After the Cup Noodle piece, has anyone ever offered to draw for you?

Fumie: Yes.

Ogawa: What do your friends usually say?

Fumie: Hmm.

Takaya: Yes, there is! lol

Ogawa: Do you say things like, "Just draw it!"?

Fumie: "I feel more calm when I draw."

Takaya: Yeah. Calm down.

Hisako: Just draw it the way you drew it, so just draw it.

Ogawa: That's the voice that comes to mind.

Takaya: I think that depends on Fumie's own mindset, and she's someone who is close by and can give him advice on how to live a healthy and happy life.

Hisako: You may be right. She said that it really made her feel refreshed and calm.

Takaya: That’s wonderful.

Shimaoka Fumie "Fireworks"

 

Ogawa: How did your mother feel when you started drawing like that?

Hisako: At first, he was drawing without any prior knowledge, so I think I was forcing him to draw something proper. When I asked him what he was drawing, he would tell me the names of things, but I didn't know what the motif was. I had never learned to draw, and I wasn't in an environment where art was close to me, but I just drew on my own. It really felt like the pictures just came to me.

Ogawa: Fumie, you've been attending Montessori classes since you were little, right?

Hisako: Yes, that's right. She was good at detailed things and working at a desk. So she was able to interact with the teacher there and seemed to enjoy it.

Ogawa: What do you usually do at school?

Hisako: It's like drills for adults. We do math, Japanese, English, etc., and then we talk with the teacher about what happened today and this week, and then we eat dinner and go home.

Ogawa: What do you like about that, Fumie?

Hisako: (to Fumie) What do you mean?

(Fumie has her eyes closed)

Takaya: How about you, Fumie? Did you fall asleep? What do you like to do at Montessori?

Hisako: You're talking about something.

Fumie: Talking and mandalas.

Hisako: Oh, they also make mandalas.

Ogawa: What do you mean?

Hisako: I also color in colorful designs, like Buddhist mandalas.

Ogawa: So you really love art.

#Motto

Takaya: By the way, what was Fumie like as a child?

Hisako: She was really cheerful and energetic, always smiling, and I think she was working hard. After she injured her leg a little, she also worked folding napkins at the hotel...

Takaya: He's really good at folding napkins. And it was a famous hotel. Where was it again?

Fumie: The Ritz-Carlton!

Ogawa: Wow! Amazing!

Takaya: You were folding towels at the Ritz-Carlton, right?

Hisako: I was folding a lot. I was very meticulous and good at origami, so they hired me because they saw that in me. (To Fumie) Hmm, what happened?

Fumie: That's when it all started.

Hisako: Then it started? What started? Well, he was fine until then, but I didn't know much about it at the time and I found out later that there is something called adolescent regression in Down's syndrome. It's not adolescence, but it seems that they often hit a wall. At that time, my child's day and night were reversed, and it was a difficult situation.

Takaya: I see. Do you remember that period, Fumie?

Hisako: Do ​​you remember? This person really remembers the good things, but forgets the bad things right away (laughs).

Takaya: Let's remember only the good things. I also think that's important.

Hisako: People around me were really worried about me. And there was a time when I really lost my sight again.

Fumie: It's half and half burned.

Hisako: It's half and half! Hehe.

Takaya: Right, your eyes. You said there was a possibility you would go blind.

Hisako: That's right. I went blind, or rather, my eyes had turned completely white, and I didn't know if the cloudiness would go away. I was completely depressed, and then I was able to see again through a therapy that involved putting contact lenses in my eyes to restore my vision. That's what led to my current pursuit of drawing detailed pictures.

Ogawa: I see. It's true that when you're drawing a picture this detailed, field of vision is extremely important.

Hisako: Yes, that's right. I was at rock bottom at the time, but my eyesight improved with contact lens therapy, so I guess life is...

Fumie: 0.3 or 0.4.

Hisako: Yes. My eyesight has improved to 0.3 or 0.4. Before that, I was in a world where my eyesight was just 0.0.

Fumie: 0.03.

Hisako: I did it.

Takaya: So now we can really see J Soul Brothers, right?

Fumie: Hehehehe!

Hisako: That's so funny! They're laughing.

Takaya: Great for you, Fumie!

Hisako: When my eyesight was getting worse I couldn't even watch TV, and I really was shut out in darkness.

Ogawa: I see. I heard that Fumie has a motto.

Hisako: That's right. It's my motto, and I think it's here. (Searching) When I was in high school, I was asked to draw something, and this is the colored paper that I chose and drew on. This is what...

Fumie: I started from rock bottom and rose up.

Hisako: "I rose from the bottom." It was a motto that predicted Fumie's future.

Ogawa: Wow, could you please read this for me?

Hisako: Well then, will you read it?

 Fumie: "Life is interesting because unexpected things happen."

Ogawa: Oh.

Takaya: That’s a good thing to say.

Hisako: When I was in high school, I had a class where we had to write a proverb of our own and I picked this out and brought it home. I think the font was probably a copy of the original.

Fumie's home

 

Ogawa: Yes, yes. It's a very beautiful and tasteful character.

Takaya: From there, I was fortunate enough to come across Heralbony.

Hisako: That's true. I love calligraphy, so when I started writing my first calligraphy lesson, I wrote it like this without any hesitation.

Ogawa: Wow! That's great!

Takaya: It says "With love."

Ogawa: Powerful.

Hisako: He drew it without any hesitation, so I was surprised and thought that he must have been thinking about it for a while.

Ogawa: Do you like writing?

Hisako: That's right.

Takaya: Fumie is giving some instructions. Is he telling me to show this?

Hisako: Huh? This?

Takaya: I wonder what they'll show me?

Ogawa: You can really see how close the two of them are from this screen.

Takaya: By the way, when you say "with love," who are you referring to? Fumie.

Hisako: I thought it might be the title of a song. My sister had "A bouquet of love" playing in the background when she got married. I wonder.

Takaya: How about you, Fumie? You're looking up right now. How about you? Is your mother's prediction correct?

Hisako: Is that right?

Fumie: Sometimes I get it right, but this...

Hisako: No?

Takaya: That’s not true.

Hisako: Speaking of not knowing what's going to happen in life, it was Matsuda who discovered Fumie's artwork. He called me and said, "We're going to use it for a banner," and at first I had no idea what he was talking about.

Takaya: That's right. When we put up a big banner on the Panasonic building, I thought Fumie's work was really wonderful. So when Fumie and her mother came to see the banner, I happened to run into her.

Ogawa: What a coincidence!

Takaya: Then we took a commemorative photo. There's nothing more exciting than that.

#Will you design costumes in the future?

Ogawa: Fumie is an individual, isn't she? How did you meet her, Matsuda?

Takaya: There is an organization for people with disabilities called "Kyosaren." I went to see an art competition through them and that's how I came across Fumie's paintings. They were really cool, and they wanted to meet you as HERALBONY, so they put me in touch with them.

Ogawa: There was something about it that attracted you.

Takaya: Yes, that's true.

Hisako: "Life is interesting because unexpected things happen." This is what you're saying.

Takaya: Thank you for tying up all the loose ends!

Ogawa: Ah, Fumie is giving her mother some instructions again!

Fumie: (says something to Hisako)

Hisako: She says that she started drawing because she likes writing.

Ogawa: So you first and foremost liked letters.

Takaya: I see.

Ogawa: By the way, your mother and Fumie, how did you feel when you saw your paintings hanging in that big building?

Hisako: It was like a surprise. It was beautifully displayed in the streets of Shibuya. I was really proud.

Ogawa: What did you think, Fumie?

Hisako: It was a surprise. Oh, I shouldn't say that.

Takaya: I'd love to hear it from your own mouth, Fumie.

Hisako: (To Fumie) You went to see that first banner, right? To Tokyo. How was it?

Fumie: It's my first time so I'm nervous.

Hisako: Because it was your first time performing in Shibuya? Yeah, I see. So were you nervous?

Fumie: I found my painting there.

Hisako: You were surprised when you found it while searching?

Fumie: That's right.

Takaya: So you were surprised. Incidentally, I'm also wearing a jacket designed by Fumie today. It was made in collaboration with the brand FABRIC TOKYO, and the lining is also designed by Fumie.

Ogawa: That's wonderful! I think HERALBONY has other products that use Fumie's work. What other products do you have?

Takaya: For example, we made handkerchiefs, and we used Fumie's work to decorate the temporary fence around a construction site to turn it into an art museum. We've worked together in many different ways. Thank you so much.

Hisako: No, no. Also, the tableware was really beautiful. Aren't all the places that HERALBONY collaborates with top-notch? The tableware was from a tableware manufacturer called NIKKO, and I ended up buying other tableware as well. Hehe.

Takaya: Thank you!

* The sales period for handkerchiefs designed by Fumie Shimaoka has now ended.

Ogawa: Are there any other products in your home that use your artwork?

Hisako: Yes! The two-seater chair we have now is made to order and available for purchase.

Takaya: Oh, that's right! Thank you! It's used as fabric for sofas and things like that.

Hisako: That fabric is also from a very famous company called Kawashima Orimono.

Hisako: Your mother knows more about this than you do! Thank you for adding that information.

Ogawa: I really get the feeling that you are both a mother and a fan, but I feel that your art has the potential to reach out to anything. How do you feel when you see people enjoying your art?

Fumie: Rather than being happy, I feel like saying thank you for buying the picture I drew.

Ogawa: That's wonderful. Is there anything you would like to try in the future?

Takaya: That's true. Let me hear it!

Fumie: Not really.

Takaya: Not really? Really? What about J Soul Brothers' costumes?

Fumie: Not J Soul Brothers, that one. What was it again?

Hisako: EXILE?

Fumie: Not EXILE.

Takaya: Who? Who? Please tell me.

Fumie: Rampage.

Hisako: I am saying that (laughs)

Ogawa: Ah! THE RAMPAGE. (※) It's definitely possible to connect with them through art.

Takaya: It's not zero. If we go through J-WAVE. Please do!

Ogawa: But it's a truly beautiful painting, so I'm sure it will reach more and more people in the future.

*A dance and vocal group that is also part of LDH JAPAN, along with J Soul Brothers.

Hisako: I'm really grateful to have met Matsuda-san and to have had this kind of turn of events. I'm so grateful for the energy he has given me.

Takaya: No no. All the members of HERALBONY love you, Fumie, so we'd love to meet you in Tokyo or Kansai.

Ogawa: By the way, it's also available as a Heralbony card , right?

Takaya: Ah, that's right! It looks like this. The face of the Heralbony card is dominated by Fumie's work "Universe."

Ogawa: Amazing! If you had this in your wallet, it would probably bring you good luck.

Ogawa: Wow! It's hard to choose because they're all so wonderful.

Takaya: Thank you very much. When I take them out in stores, people say things like, "What a lovely card." Thank you so much, Fumie-san.

Ogawa: So, today I had a great time hearing about how Fumie's art was born and how she draws. Thank you, Fumie and your mother, Hisako!

 

Text by Tomoyo Akasaka

Fumie Shimaoka

Her works are characterized by her unique sense of color, in which she steadily connects small circles and cells to depict things and feelings she likes. At first, she painted monochrome works, but gradually her works began to have more colors, the shapes changed, and the fragments multiplied, gradually establishing her current style. Currently, she commutes to a workshop and spends her days relaxing and enjoying creative activities at the table after dinner with her family.

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