CREATOR LIST | WALLTZ

After quitting her job as a graphic designer at an advertisement company, she went to the United Kingdom. She then returned to Japan and began a career as an illustrator. Currently, she makes the most of her experience as a designer through her illustration work for magazines, books, advertisements, and tableware planning and production.

Aya Kato is active in a broad field of work. Artist abroad, televison commercials, advertising, fashion, interior and books. She uses acrylic, pen and pencil to first draw and then rework them digitally on a computer. "She tries to represent herself as she is." Making herself as transparent as possible, she draws her as she is, as a part of the wholeness of the nature. Her creatorlist following the natural flow the artist draws a world that can only been drawn in that very moment. Creating a veassel that will receive every kinds of creatorlist, you become aware of the possibility to represent yourself in such a way avery day.

This illustrator draws with mapping pens to create a richly detailed work. Using an assemblage of delicate lines the artist creates a dense and dynamic scenery.

IKI Design Firm

Creative Director Tani Hyota introduction: Tani is a hyperactive creative director with many hats. Active as Shodoka Etsuzan, he runs a film producing company dedicated the promotion of Echizenya Hyota, he is also a master in the art of mask crafting, a creative director, and a master in traditional crafts. He involves people from the street, animals, etc,… For each project he will take care of team organization, he will uses local designs and designs stores. He is also running a management business and operates a broad range of activities related to advertising.

Ikura Marie creates art that takes up the entire room. The way she combines and layers brush strokes across the canvas feels like she is chronically the passage of time through her art. She starts each piece by grounding herself in the present, a practice she started in her childhood, making art without a care in the world. Her art is defined by this artistic process. "My parents' house was a kindergarten. The first piece of art I remember making was a mountain of rice dumplings in the sandbox. What I admire the most right now is, at that time, the way I was able to create things with all my heart and soul, and before I knew it, no one was around me and yet I still kept living to the fullest. Maybe I'm still in that sandbox, obsessively drawing pictures and waiting for someone to come and play with me."

Yusuke Iwatani is a watercolor artist who primarily paints pictures of food and sweets. His illustrations are sometimes retro, usually colorful, and always look good enough to eat. He has made illustrations for apparel, publishing, advertising companies as well as for his own picture books. Every day, he makes the rounds of old coffee shops while letting his imagination run wild.

Masaaki Enami is the representative of the apparel design company Edit Mode. Designed by Edit Mode, “The King of Games” is the only T-shirt brand officially approved by Nintendo in Japan. "Designed by Edit Mode, “The King of Games” is the only T-shirt brand officially approved by Nintendo in Japan. Edit Mode goal is to expand their market and reach a new public both locally and internationally."

Kata Kata is a textile design group of 2 people, Takeshi Matsunaga and Chie Takai. The unit has been active since 2004. They use katazome - a traditional Japanese stencil dyeing method, screen printing and other printing techniques to create unique and original dyed cloth. Their patterns and products are offered and commercialized by many companies. Animals, insects, plants, landscapes,… Spreading out the fabric makes a whole story unfold before you. All the designs take advantage of katazome.

Inori Kito creates contemporary paintings full of little people and strawberries, while utilizing traditional Japanese art-making techniques. As a painter, she mainly focuses on solo exhibitions both at home and abroad. As an Illustrator, she has worked on advertisements, anime merchandise, and picture books. "Winner of the 190th The Choice competition (judged by Mr. Hisashi Eguchi) Illustrator of of "Spoon no Ouji-sama" (The Spoon Prince, written by Miho Kurosaki and published by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers), "KOBITO NO OUCHI" (The Small People's Home, published by WAVE Publishing), and "Ichigo ni Narimashita" (I Turned into a Strawberry, published by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers)

Kimura Tomomi is one of WALLTZ WALLPAPER DESIGN AWARD 2014 prizewinners. She is originally from Hiroshima but now lives and works in Kyoto. Nowadays she paints and makes prints. She uses a mixed medias technique of drawings, paintings, printings and collage to create her pieces. This is an exquisite balance of artistry and fun. The work are here to expand the imagination of the viewer. The interpretation is to be made with a free mind.

Kamakura is the core of this painter's work. The main material used is acrylic for its intimacy with life. Look, Touch and Feel. The purpose of life is expressed through the touchability of the products. The most important thing is to have the product touched and feeled. The artist wants to create a piece that everyone from the kids to the grown ups will want to touch.

Yuki Sato is an Illustrator and a graphic designer. She lives in Kanagawa and based in Tokyo. Her favorite work is drawing food. "I would draw a little happiness that I find in everyday life, sunshine in the morning, ironed brouse and the smell of baking sweets." she says.

SUMIFUDE (SUZUKI Satomi) is a Tokyo-based Japanese visual artist with a Mokuhanga and media arts background. After her experiences with child rearing and breast cancer, she developed the theme "Genetic inheritance, cell replication and the influence of environment and concept; You are printmaking," which also defines vital activity and human growth as printmaking. SUMIFUDE's representative works include "SHITEN Chair (Milan Design Week 2015)," a sculpture that transcribes the composition of multiple perspectives of Ukiyoe onto a chair, and "Tokyo Dango (Roppongi Art Night 2021)," a video work that transcribes the urban landscape of Tokyo onto a Dango, a traditional Japanese sweet made of sticky rice, attempting to decontextualize and reconstruct printmaking by transposing different domains.

The water soaked paper is first applied on a wooden plank, then the picture is drawn with acrilyc paints. Recently he uses a black pen to draw rough images. Animals, people silhouettes and facial expressions are depicted with great humour, therefore creating laughters. His usual work is made of small objetcs and cutout images. Because of this is this is quite a challenge to switch to a larger media. The question is to know if it is possible to adjust to a whole room.

Day Starter is a design duo whose work focuses primarily on original illustrations and textile design. The concept behind their art is "taking a lesson from the past". 1950's pop culture was the heyday of a nostalgic and pleasant view of the world. Day Starter take this view and give it a modern twist. They have colaborated with a variety of apparel brands on top of creating textile designs and artwork for musicians.

Dongri Pod is a unit that operates in a large field also she is mostly wall designer whose main body of work interior panels and stage signboards. The designer uses simple drawings and acrylic gouache to create simple yet warm drawings. Animals are often used to create patterns and motifs. The faces and expressions of the animals are carefully thought. You will be tempted to talk with them and to create a relationship.

Nidaira Eli is WALLTZ WALLPAPER DESIGN AWARD 2014 grand prize winner. The artist uses dying and staining techniques to produce motifs of insects and plants. A myriad of tangled lines connect people expressing feelings, emotions and the hidden energy. Everything has to be slightly malicious and poisonous.

Junko is a pattern magician. She will stimulate your imagination and bring you comfort. When she was asked her dream job in the 6th grade, she reponded "someone who moves others emotionally". Her creative process is an endless cycle of trying to express her true self while figuring out what "someone who moves others" really does. It's a bit of a tall order. Fulfilling this vaguely worded dream has been a hard journey, but somewhere along the way it became her raison d'etre.

DEKA Masahiko Hayashi

Artist, illustrator, papercut art master. DEKA Masahiko Hayashi primarily creates two-dimensional monotone pencil and pen drawings, but he occasionally creates large-scale art installations that mix together three-dimensional parts he finds made of wood, coated in lacquer, or decayed with rust, along with papercut and shadow picture art that come together into spaces that change with the passage of time.

Taku Bannai is an illustrator who creates collages for advertisements, book covers, magazines, and CD jackets. Winner of the PATER's Shop and Gallery 2016 Suzuki Seichi Prize Bannai is known for putting a lyrical spin on everyday scenes as well as his minimalistic style and ample use of negative space that leaves room for the viewer's immagination and for plenty of stories to be told. Born in Tokyo. Graduated from Tama Art University's School of Graphic Design. Bannai is active in a variety of fields, with a focus on book covers and magazine art.

The designer behind fashion brand RBTXCO. Born in Kyoto, Higashi Teppei taught himself how to sew. He started to sell his own designs under the「rizalt bai tfa:ns」brand when he was still in high school. RBTXCO (pronounced "result by chance") means "product of chance". The concept behind the brand is that MONOZUKURI (creating) is MONOGATARI (storytelling). Each collection has a set story, and each piece is made with that story in mind.

Kayo Horaguchi is a freelance graphic designer making use of her experience as a designer in the fields of apparel, textile and fashion illustration. Her goal is to make people happy with her art. Her colorful and unique designs create fantastical dreamscapes. Her frequent motifs include plants, animals, young girls, and things you might find in your daily life.

Naoko Horiguchi

One of the recipients of the WALLTZ WALLPAPER DESIGN AWARD 2014. "Horiguchi Naoko uses rubber stamps, ink, collage, textiles, yarn and paper cutouts to create figurative and abstract paintings. She also produces original wrapping papers, postcards and calendars." Her motto is "create - don't worry about how you do it." Not too sweet, not too spicy - just the right flavour.

An artist from Hirosaki City, Aomori, Japan. Small acryllic paintings, live painting shows, detailled pen drawings, interior design, engravings, videos - the range of MAJIO's work is extensive. MAJIO has collaborated with numerous other artists from differing backgrounds and genres. His art is not limited to one technique, genre or frame of any kind. It erupts from its own nucleus, expanding outwards. It aims to be a faithful representation of all the ever-moving things.

She began self-studying backstitching in 1998 and took on the pseudonym ma.macaron in 2006. The name "ma.macaron" comes from her desire to live a life filled with the soft and colorful shades of macarons. She primarily makes emboidered objet d'art, which she makes stitch by stitch with the help of her embroidery machine. "What should I embroider next? I've already converted them to the macaron lifestyle in this macaron-colored world."

Active as an artist in a place called Higashikawa Village in Hokkaido. It's a place where you can experience each season to the fullest. Also active as a mother of 3. Mem loves her children, the nature and animals around her, and traveling. She takes inspiration from her daily life and the sights she sees on her journeys. Mem uses whatever technique strikes her fancy in the moment, from pencil sketches to ink drawings to chigiri-e creations (the Japanese method of using torn paper to make art.)

Tomoaki Murayama

Growing up in a mountain village, Murayama Tomoaki developed an interest in nature, and after graduating from agricultural school, he began working as a farmer. Murayama depicts plants and animals in detailed black-and-white pen drawings with the themes of "harmony" and "fellowship" at the heart of every work. He also created the “3-Draw series,” a series that turns his gorgeous drawings into 3D objects. He has started exploring the possiblitiles of 2D art in installations that combine them with his 3D works.

Keiko Matsumoto

Keiko Matsumoto's watercolor art paints a scene straight out of a movie. The transparancy of the watercolors she uses gives each piece a sense of ethereality. She is also active as an embroidery and knitwear artist.

Yurikov Kawahiro

Yurikov Kawahiro is a prolific illustrator who works in magazines, advertisement, web design, and product packaging. We are charmed by her comical spins on everyday situations. She uses her fashion sense to create witty scenes where humans, animals, and objects are put together like a scene out of a movie.

Yoshiei Yoshida

Graphic designer. Illustrator. In 2013, Yoshiei Yoshida started her own design studio, YOSHIDAKE, and began working solo as a graphic designer and illustrator. Her work currently centers around designing interior wallpaper and hand-drawn illustrations.

Kazuki Watanabe

Kazuki Watanabe studied calligraphy from a young age, and in 2004 began to study under Masahiro Matsukawa and create works of her own that fuse paintings with the written word. Her experience of being chronically ill as a child inspires her to make art centering around themes of life, energy, and human emotion.