Commencing this residency, Brett Piva experimented with pigments made from materials he collected within a 1km radius of the artists studio.

Piva sourced several different clays, wild berries, tree barks along with clam shell, egg shell and red cabbage bi-products from local Akakura kitchens.

This process of restriction to a small area shared a truly representative colour palette descriptive of the unique natural environment in Akakura Onsen Ski Village.

All works share the traditional Japanese painting technique of Nihonga using all natural pigments alongside various karats of Gold Leaf. All water used in these works is from collected snow, melted down for both the Nihonga painting and traditional Japanese gold leaf gilding processes.

Each piece is painted on Japanese cloudy Washi Paper mounted onto Shina board.

All works were exhibited in a small ski village izakaya that Piva transformed into a gallery to complete the artist residnecy.

A testimant to his efforts and experience directing and curating various galleries and spaces on home soil.