Between Us Ed.IV - Mona Sugata

This month, we've had the beautiful and vibrant work by artist Mona Sugata!

With such detail in her work, we were curious about her background and what led her to where she is now.

1. Why did you choose fabric and Acrylic paint for your art?
   
   I originally worked for about ten years engraving lettering on jewelry. As I kept doing that kind of detailed handwork, I gradually became drawn to a softer, freer form of expression, something different from metal. With fabric, by painting it, cutting it, and applying heat, I can shape it freely and lightly, taking it from flat to three-dimensional. I found it fascinating that I could layer colors while changing the form of the material itself, and I’ve just kept making work this way ever since.

2. How did you discover your art style?
   
   

   I didn’t have a clear style from the start. I found it little by little, working with my hands and engaging with the materials. I’ve always been interested in philosophical questions and the underlying order of this world, and as I connected that with making flowers and plants from fabric, it kept expanding, and I discovered the joy of being able to share something with the people who see my work. This world may be chaotic, but through my work I hope to convey how full of wonder and how beautiful we living beings are.
   
   
   

3. For the exhibition, insects seem like a prominent theme. Is there a specific reason for this?
   
   

   Insects have bodies and senses completely different from ours, yet they live in the same world we do. Between flowers and insects, there are relationships that exist because of each other. Watching them, I feel that even things we usually think of as separate are actually living within all kinds of connections. I’m drawn to the structure of insects’ bodies and the beauty of their wings, but even more, I love how these small creatures let us look at the world we live in from a different perspective.

4. Is there a piece you're especially proud of? What's the story behind it?
   
   

   Every piece holds its own meaning for me, so it’s hard to choose just one. But in 2024 I won the Grand Prix at SICF at Spiral in Aoyama, and the solo exhibition I was given the chance to hold in Spiral’s atrium the following year is one I’ll never forget. To hold my own against the energy of that space, I made work on a scale I’d never attempted before. So many people came to see it, and it brought me so many new encounters.

5. What do you hope people feel when they see or own one of your pieces?
   
   

   I’d be happy if, when people see my work, their breathing deepens a little, or they feel like noticing things they’d overlooked in daily life. Beyond enjoying the shapes of the flowers and insects, I hope they might suddenly sense the vast world beyond them, and that they themselves are a part of it. I’d love for my work to quietly stay with people in their everyday lives, and to keep offering new discoveries as time goes on.

6. What's your art in three words?
   
   Joy, connection, harmony
   
   

7. What would your younger self think of the work you're making now?
   
   

   I think my younger self would be amazed: “Can I really make something like this?!” I hope she’d like it, though, haha.

   
   
   

8. What do you hope to work on next? Do you have any goals for your art? Are you experimenting with something new?
   
   

   Going forward, while deepening how I express individual flowers and insects, I want to express the larger worlds and spaces that emerge when they come together. Beyond standalone pieces, I want to challenge myself to create work that viewers can step into, including its relationship with architecture, space, light, and movement. In the future, I’d also like to go beyond art and try collaborations in spatial design and fashion. And package design too! While cherishing the delicacy that comes from materials and handwork, I want to keep exploring ways to share the world as I feel it, on a larger scale.