artist statement

Niko Sano

12/12/2020

Niko Sano Self-Portrait 2020

I created this artwork by using watercolor pencils, eyeshadows, rose petals and leaves. I decided to include real petals and leaves in my artwork, because I was deeply inspired by Kehinde Wiley, who included floral backgrounds for many of his paintings. I chose rose as the background, because I’ve always liked roses although it sounds a little basic. I think roses show the fierce, but beautiful side of people, and I wanted to create that for myself. The reason why I decided to use colors that were unrealistic for my portrait, is because I wanted my work to be something that I’ll always remember and come back to.

I think the abstractness that is in my artwork is something that I’ll always be inspired by, and something I want to keep indicating in my future works. The polka dots that are on the clothing of my portrait show where I originated from...Japan. I grew up in Tokyo, Japan and moved to the US when I was about 10. I wanted to include this for my portrait, because I thought it was important that I show my pride for where I came from. I feel attracted to my work. I think I’ve never used so many different media to create art before.

Next time I create these self-portraits, I would like to continue using more than one media, and stick with the abstract colors and backgrounds. I might want to choose different things to include in the backgrounds of my work as well