Claire Nakazawa | Ikigai Series Rd
Ikigai Series Rd | 2026
76 x 61 cm
Acrylic on canvas
Timber shadow box frame
$ 2,200
Claire Nakazawa
Bio
Claire Nakazawa is a painter, musician and performer based in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the College of Fine Arts in 2007 and has developed an exhibition practice spanning nearly two decades. Her painting practice has evolved from abstract landscapes and dreamscapes into increasingly intuitive explorations of colour, sensation and perception.
Working primarily in synthetic polymer paint, Japanese ink and pigment on canvas, Claire combines unexpected colour, spontaneous gesture and rhythmic mark-making. Her paintings move between freedom and precision, energy and stillness, drawing on the natural world, memory and lived experience while leaving space for personal interpretation.
Claire has presented three sold-out solo exhibitions and exhibited widely in group shows across Australia, alongside creating large-scale murals and public artworks for councils, cultural institutions and private clients. Her work is held in collections throughout Australia and internationally. She has received an Australia Council ArtStart Grant and undertaken residencies at Fraser Studios and Queen Street Studio.
Claire’s multidisciplinary practice has also taken her to stages across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States. As a co-founder of the electronic dance collective Haiku Hands, she has performed at major festivals including Governors Ball in New York, Fusion Festival in Germany, Woodford Folk Festival, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo. Performing as a vocalist, dancer and live artist, she has developed a creative language rooted in rhythm, movement, spontaneity and play.
These experiences continue to inform her painting. The energy of performance finds it’s way into the physicality of her mark-making, while the stillness of the studio provides a space for reflection and connection. Rooted in the vibrant creative culture of the Blue Mountains and shaped by nearly two decades of multidisciplinary practice, Claire’s current work embraces colour as an immersive and sensory experience — something to be felt as much as seen.
