The Unreal from the Real
Reimagining Reality Through Light and Layers
ODA, Yasuo（小田康夫）
2026 — Exhibition in Reykjavík, Iceland, as part of the 70th Anniversary of Japan–Iceland Diplomatic Relations.
2025 — Award of Excellence, New York Open-Call Art Exhibition, Art Incubation.
2025 — Featured in Art Investment & Collectors Guide 2025.
2024 — Solo Exhibition, Gallery Dojunkai, Omotesando, Tokyo.
1995 — Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania. Fulbright Scholar (1993).
Over 30 years of professional architectural experience in the United States and Japan.
My Artistic Roots
More than thirty years ago, my artistic philosophy was profoundly influenced by my mentor, Robert Slutzky, at the University of Pennsylvania. He greatly admired Kurt Schwitters, a pioneer of collage art known for transforming discarded materials into works of art. Decades later, I find the same spirit of discovery in my own work, transforming everyday photographs into worlds that have never existed.
Slutzky also believed that the longer we look at an artwork, the more we discover. Although I do not recall hearing these words directly from him, I have independently arrived at the same conviction through my own artistic journey.
What I inherited was not a particular style, but a way of seeing and thinking about art. I only wish I could have shared this discovery with him, who passed away in 2005.
