Japanese artist Go Ogawa invites audiences within Wonders of Nature, New Art Museum Singapore’s immersive celebration of biodiversity and imagination, into a contemplative realm where light and perception converge. Renowned for his innovative use of acrylic and film to materialise and distort natural phenomena, Ogawa transforms these simple materials into mesmerising experiences that blur the boundaries between dimensions. In this interview, he reflects on his fascination with the invisible and the intangible, and how wonder itself can be a powerful medium for connection.

Your work often plays with light refraction and color illusions. What first drew you to exploring the "disturbance and expansion of sight" as a central theme in your practice?

During my graduate studies, I was profoundly influenced by the churches I visited during a trip to Germany, as well as the lighting effects I experienced at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. In these spaces, light is used to create environments that impress upon the viewer the invisible or things that do not exist in this world. I was deeply inspired by these methods of spatial storytelling.

Your three-dimensional installations draw inspiration from galaxy images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. How do you see the relationship between art and science in your work?

'Illusion and reality' is another theme I have been exploring concurrently.
The images from the Hubble Space Telescope, in their original form, are merely grayscale data. Various processes are applied to this master data, transforming it into the beautiful images we are familiar with. This very process itself forms the core of my work.
For me, art and science are "illusions," while "reality" might simply be an ordinary, unremarkable "stone."

*Nebula prism* (2023), Wood, Film, Acrylic, 34.0 × 34.0 × 5.0 cm

You’ve expanded your artistic practice to include jewelry production. What inspired you to explore this form, and are you planning to experiment with other forms in the future?

The materials I use in my work, such as holographic sheets and acrylic, generate a large amount of scraps during the production process. I began thinking about whether these remnants could be repurposed to create small works. At the time, most of the people interested in my work were women, so I presented these pieces in the form of “wearable art” that could be worn as accessories.

Your works invite viewers into shifting perceptions of light and space. What kind of experience or emotional response do you hope audiences carry with them after encountering your work?

I always aim for viewers to experience something not merely unreal, but surreal and have an emotionally moving experience. I hope people encounter my works as four-dimensional experiences that transcend three dimensions and transport them to another realm.

Go Ogawa’s contribution to Wonders of Nature juxtaposes the flora and fauna of the natural world with something more subtle and imperceptible — light, generating brief flickers of optical magic, with each and every movement of the eye opening up whole new prisms of colour. Through this, he challenges us to see the unseen and to question our understanding of illusion and reality. His works invite participation, drawing us into a dialogue between each. Enter Ogawa’s ever-shifting landscapes and rediscover the wonder that lives in the space between science and imagination.

Visit exhibition here

Wondering with Go Ogawa

Wondering with Jesse Franklin