MAKIKO FURUICHI | ARTISSIMA Turin 2026

For the Disegni 2026 section of Artissima, the gallery is pleased to present, for the first time, a solo show by Japanese artist Makiko Furuichi, composed exclusively of works on paper. Conceived as an immersive environment, the project unfolds an organic and abundant universe in which drawing and watercolor extend beyond the surface of the sheet to fully inhabit the booth space. Vegetal motifs, hybrid figures, and elements drawn from the Japanese imagination emancipate themselves from the support and spread throughout the space, dissolving the boundaries of the frame. The booth becomes an expanding territory, echoing the living, ever-transforming world evoked by the artist.

At the heart of this universe, the plant kingdom emerges as a living, shifting force in dialogue with a bestiary inspired by yōkai, hybrid spirits from Japanese folklore. Half-human, half-animal, sometimes merging with vegetal forms, they embody an animistic vision of the world in which every element appears endowed with its own presence. In Makiko Furuichi’s practice, the boundaries between human, animal, and vegetal continually dissolve: bodies transform, plants invade figures, and forms overlap and merge. Drawing becomes a site of perpetual metamorphosis, where nature acts as an active, absorbing, and generative force.

Born in Kanazawa and based in France since 2009, the artist brings together Japanese and Western references through a practice of watercolor, drawing, and painting shaped by a dual cultural background.

For Artissima, this body of works highlights the delicacy of her gesture, the fluidity of watercolor, and the density of her motifs. The booth becomes a mental garden, an imaginary forest into which visitors are invited to step.