Portraits Hiding Behind Botanical Illustrations

Mariko Enomoto

我們都或多或少有從別人表情中讀到其情緒的能力,一個皺眉顯示煩惱或嫌惡,嘴角牽起該是愉悅,然而,人類思想之複雜,卻教我們不免懷疑自己的判斷,疑惑著對方會否戴著假面,不將自己的情感宣諸臉上。畫家Mariko Enomoto將植物、靜物及人像畫結合,畫中人的臉全被山水鳥獸覆蓋著,表情變得曖昧不明,自一張張滿載了奇思妙想的臉上,我們講不出箇中的情緒,正好暗示了人類錯縱複雜的情感變化。

Mariko Enomoto的曾祖父為日本畫家,自小便被大自然與畫簇擁著成長,長大後雖然修讀時裝設計,卻同時自學繪畫,練出了筆觸細致、色彩柔和、內容充滿了想像力的畫風。這系列植物與人像結合的作品,是她兩年前開始的創作。前期作品中的背景用色層次較豐富,筆觸較明顯,來完成的,則趨向簡潔素淨,令觀者的目光更能集中在人像及其臉部風景之上。相信這細微的變化,是她花兩年時間專注於同一系列的創作,才能達至的成果。

Mariko Enomoto將於明年1月11日至20日,於東京的AL畫廊,舉行展覽,展出其中30幅作品。

We have, more or less, the ability to read others’ facial expressions. A frown is to indicate displeasure or disapproval. A smirk is to express satisfaction. However, the complexity of the human mind still sometimes put us into doubtful situations, when it is hard to judge whether people are faking their expressions or simply hiding the emotion. Mariko Enomoto is a painter who tries to blend together plant drawings, still-life and portraits together. In her works, the faces on the portraits are covered by landscapes or animals. This interesting collage is well contrasted by the intriguing absence of facial expression, to imply the complicated combination of human emotion.

The great-grandfather of Mariko Enomoto was also a Japanese painter. Being surrounded by nature and paintings as she grew up, Enomoto went on to study fashion when grown up but in the meantime self-taught herself to paint. She then developed a style rich of imagination with the use of delicate strokes and mellow colors. She started this series of combining plants-drawing and portraits two years ago. The early ones employed richer layers of colors as the background with brush strokes that are more explicit. At a later stage, she tended to adopt a more minimal approach to focus on the landscapes covering the faces of the portraits. This subtle sophistication is a process that spans two years of dedication to a single series.


Mariko Enomoto will host an exhibition that shows 30 pieces of her works at AL Gallery in Tokyo, from 11th until 20th January next year.

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