Tokyo's newest art star is one-year-old Thumbelina

Straits Times

29-04-2025

Gallery director Dan Isomura with abstract artwork by Thumbelina at his gallery in the Shinjuku district in central Tokyo. PHOTO: AFP
Works by 21-month-old artist Thumbelina at her home in Tokyo. Abstract paintings by the toddler are on sale at her debut show at Decameron gallery. PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO – Gripping paintbrush and crayon, the artist known as Thumbelina splodges and splats with merry abandon, the one-year-old star of a Tokyo exhibition that goes on way past her bedtime.
Abstract paintings by the toddler are on sale for 33,000 yen (S$300) each at her debut show at the hip gallery Decameron, tucked above a bar in the Kabukicho red-light district.
Thumbelina's vivid style is 'babyish but mysteriously dexterous', said gallery director – and matchmaker of her parents – Dan Isomura.
'I thought, 'wow, these are legit artworks',' contemporary artist Isomura, 32, said, describing his first impression of her free-form creations.
The dining table at the home of Thumbelina doubles as her drawing space.
PHOTO: AFP
Colourful smudges adorn tatami mats and tables at the 21-month-old's suburban home, where her mother patiently helps twist open paint tubes and squeeze them onto paper.
'I can see this rhythm in her movements and patterns. She knows what she's doing,' said the evacuee in her 20s from Ukraine, asking to remain anonymous for privacy reasons.
As a fellow artist focusing on Japanese calligraphy, she is jealous of her daughter's first solo exhibition, she joked, though, of course, 'I'm happy, as a mum'.
Once, she thought her daughter might help her with work, but now, 'I'm her assistant'.
A drawing on the side of a sliding screen door at the home of Thumbelina (right).
PHOTO: AFP
After Russia invaded in 2022, Thumbelina's mother left Ukraine's eastern Donbas region – her 'very pathological, violent' homeland torn apart by war. She found herself on a plane to Japan, having consulted a website helping Ukrainians find housing worldwide.
A chance seating beside Isomura , who had only boarded because of two delayed flights, changed her life. Amazed to learn they were both artists, the pair kept in touch and, later, through Isomura's introduction, she met her future husband.
'Dan is our angel, you know, like Cupid,' she said.
The couple then had Thumbelina – not her real name – whose paintings inspired Isomura.
Artist Thumbelina at work in her home.
PHOTO: AFP
At first, he had assumed the toddler was scribbling randomly, like she was playing in the mud.
But when he saw Thumbelina in action, she seemed to signal each time she considered her drawing complete, prompting her mother to give her a fresh sheet.
The fact that Thumbelina sometimes demands a specific colour, develops shapes from paint droplets and finishes voluntarily suggests a will at work, he said.
'Some may say her mother's involvement means these are not Thumbelina's works,' Isomura said. But 'for a baby, a mother is part of their body'.
In any case, adult artists are not fully independent, Isomura argued, as they rarely break free of store-bought paints or conventional canvases. 'We operate under the illusion of solitary creation, while in fact, we rely heavily on systems built by others,' he said.
The exhibition, Isomura's first as director of Decameron, opened in March and runs until mid-May. But most of the time it is on, from 8pm to 5am , Thumbelina will likely be fast asleep.
Artist Thumbelina using a brush to paint at her home.
PHOTO: AFP
One recent night at the gallery, an admiring visitor said the paintings had an innocent charm.
'We instinctively try to draw skilfully because we've grown used to having our paintings evaluated by others', said Ms Yuri Kuroda, 45. 'But it feels like she doesn't care at all about whether it's good or bad. It's a mindset we can never return to.'
So, would she pay $300 to take one home? 'I'm tempted,' Ms Kuroda said with a chuckle. AFP
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