Moe Nakamura’s whimsical, hand-carved figures and drawings of mysterious childlike beings bring to mind the characters of nursery rhymes or fairy tales. Their kawaii, roundly innocent heads sport animal ears and antlers, sheets draped over them as if they were playing ghosts, and hats in the shape of ears of corn, corals, and fruits. Nakamura carves her sculptures out of single logs of camphor wood then uses oil paint to create her unique hybrid characters. Her oil-on-wood bust Innocent Stare (2014), sold for $48,772 at auction in 2020, reflects Nakamura’s signature style in the figure’s babyish face peeking out from a hat resembling curling horns. Nakamura has participated in a number of group exhibitions, and her first large-scale solo exhibition was presented in 2021 at the Pola Museum Annex.

Moe Nakamura

Japanese

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