Good condition.
The certificate is signed and dated.
Several scuff marks and stains are visible across the surface.
These are thought to be part of the artwork's original condition.

Certificate of Authenticity by ARATANIURANO

Natsuko Sakamoto (b. 1983) is a contemporary artist from Kumamoto, Japan. She received the Koji Kinutani Incentive Award in 2009 and the VOCA Incentive Award in 2010, and graduated from Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 2012. Her works have been exhibited and acquired by major institutions across Japan, including The National Museum of Art (Osaka), The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo), and the Ohara Museum of Art (Kurashiki). Under the guidance of Tomoaki Shitara, Sakamoto has been exploring “a world that can only be expressed through painting,” continuously questioning how to create images that are unpredictable and not mere reproductions of visual references. This pursuit led her to develop a distinctive technique that she still employs today: applying paint from the edges of the canvas, like the spontaneous growth of cells, without revisiting areas once painted. Her paintings are known for their labyrinthine quality, featuring distorted spaces and female figures that resemble alter egos.
This work, ‘Under the Table ‘, is a rare three-dimensional piece created in 2016, comprising a table, a paper clay sculpture, and a carpet. For an artist primarily known for her paintings, this mixed-media installation stands out as a unique and exceptional endeavor. The piece conjures a mysterious blend of realism and fantasy, as if Sakamoto’s inner world has emerged directly into physical space, signaling an expansion of her expressive vocabulary.