27-year-old Japanese artist Maki Ohkojima specializes in what she calls “the mural beyond the frame,” referring to her tendency to create sprawling paintings that spill off the canvas and onto the walls around it. Unconfined by conventional frames, her artworks often stretch over entire walls, becoming floor-to-ceiling murals that burst with intricate details and vivid energy.
“When drawing a picture, I always think that the picture I am drawing in that moment is merely one part of a larger world and narrative,” the artist says. She compares her feelings to the frustration most of us have felt when we realize that it's impossible to capture an expansive scene or landscape in its entirety using only a camera. Consequently, Ohkojima doesn't stop at the edges of her canvas, but continues to draw and paint on the wall, bringing a larger vista to life. She says, “By drawing like this, the land and the picture are becoming further connected, and one piece of scenery, which I could not see before, is starting to emerge.”
Ohkojima's elaborate works of art often revolve around the earth, plants, and animals. Trees sprout from the canvas onto the walls; colorful birds fly off the paper; lush foliage grows wildly over entire surfaces. These themes fit the artist's style perfectly–Mother Nature, after all, is a force that cannot be contained, just as Ohkojima's murals flourish beyond the margins of the initial canvas.
