Ishikawa, Japan, 1977.

Studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Heir of surrealism and defender of interior psychological havens, this video artist plays games with our subconscious in his works. He belongs to that generation of artists caught between two continents, between two traditions, which gives his work a certain intimacy. Since 2002 he has participated in international exhibitions in Washington, Melbourne, Yokohama, London, etc. In Spain, his work has been exhibited in Madrid, in the CBA (Burgos) and MUSAC (León).

Since the beginning, Sawa has used video for his creations because it allows him to address the subject of dreams more clearly. He also uses images that mix reality and fiction, with a strong dreamlike component that creates somewhat decadent and very suggestive images that are linked to the world of dreams.

Sawa does not try to distance himself from thoughts of his childhood. His work, disturbing and magical, is full of images of his childhood and his memories. To a certain extent, this makes him a somewhat nostalgic and oneiric artist. He wants to know the person inside him at all times. His early videos had a certain intimacy about them, underscored by the fact that they were filmed inside his London studio apartment. It was a bare-bones apartment.

However, the experience acquired over time led him to experiment with other environments. The spectator’s personal experience is very important in his videos. He is constantly trying to stimulate the imaginations of the spectators who view his work and to cause a different impression in each viewer. The source of his work flows from personal experiences and his intention is for these emotions to connect with the particular emotions of other people.

There are two fundamental ingredients in his videos: time and movement. In his work he likes to create a moment, something that is not planned but is a sort of “disconnection moment” in daily life.

Music is also important in his work. He uses sound to help the spectators capture the images in motion more easily. He is deeply intrigued by the relationship between image and sound. Thanks to this duality, he creates an almost ghost-like world inhabited by shadows, by ill-adjusted poetic landscapes.

Zen philosophy is also present in his imaginary world. Everything seems possible in his videos, although there is sometimes a sense of beautiful melancholy and silent solitude.

He participated in the Santa Fe (USA) Biennale in 2010. His work is exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the CAB in Burgos, Spain; the Detroit Institutes of Art in Michigan (USA); the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC (USA); The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, CA (USA); MUSAC in León, Spain; the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, etc.

Lives and works in London.