A Closer Look at the Surreal Worlds of Artist Ryo Toyonaga’s Imagination
Ryo Toyonaga’s painting Untitled C18 depicts a serene alpine landscape, interrupted by an alien creature, quenching its thirst from the celeste waters of a flowing river. Emerging from the horizon, the river winds in a snakelike formation through a range of high peaked mountains, cutting diagonally across and into the foreground of the painting. A cityscape can be seen off in the distance, but our attention is drawn to the large grotesque figure dominating the bottom right portion of the scene. This creature resembles that of a living organ, bearing skinny legs, knobby knees, and is clad with tennis shoes and a metal periscope.
Toyonaga takes a more naturalistic approach in this representational work, but leaves room for subjectivity in depiction of the landscape and subject matter. The shapes within this five by six foot painting are harmonious in proportion to the size of the canvas, filling the entire pictorial plane. The large dimensions and attention to depth in this work create a space that requires full attention, drawing the viewer into the surrealistic world that Toyonaga has created.
Toyonaga has applied multiple layers of acrylic paint to the canvas using thick brush strokes, resulting in a textured surface, which is toned down by the shininess of the paint. There is not a single straight line in this painting; rather numerous thin curvilinear lines forming the outlines of each individual leaf, rock, etc. The abundance of organic lines combined with texture produces an illusory effect, almost as though the painting is moving or breathing.
The artist’s color palate is vibrant, using rich blue, green, and gray tones for the landscape, accented by white or yellow to create dimensionality. In contrast to the cool tones used in the background, the monstrous creature in the foreground is depicted using blood red paint, also highlighted with yellow and white, while the gaping hole by which it drinks shaded with black.
Light and shadow is employed through a smooth blending of white or black into the primary color being used. The foreground uses lots of shadow as well as black to outline shapes, while the background abandons the black outlines altogether, relying on shading of color to distinguish forms. The landscape gets less detailed the further off into the distance we look. The foreground and background of this work are tied together with warm tones; the red used on the subject’s body and the dusty pink, which hangs low on the horizon as a result of a majestic sunrise or sunset.
The dominance of bright, cool tones in Untitled C18 stands out from the rest of the works that make up Toyanaga’s current exhibition “Awakening,” in that majority of his other works employ warmer and darker reds, purples, and lots of black. This use of color reflects the mood of the imagery in his works. Untitled C18’s luscious landscape emits life and energy, whilst many of his other works exude a degree of darkness, pollution, and decay. Yet in Untitled C18, there is an interesting juxtaposition between the beautiful vibrancy in Toyonaga’s depiction of this landscape and the raw ugliness of the foreigner who emerges from the shadows, evoking a multiplicity of emotions and interpretations from the viewer, making this piece one worth contemplating.▲
