Yusuke Asai’s Shujo: Sentient Beings is born from a longing to connect deeply with nature, and through it, with a global universe. It taps a consciousness that resonates with primal indigenous arts. Yusuke Asai grew up in hyper-urban Tokyo, yearning to connect with the natural world. Today, he uses soil from the earth as his chosen medium. A self-taught artist, Asai’s paintings share a tribal-primitive aesthetic. They come alive with natural beings, fantastical plants, animals, humans, and imaginary hybrids, that morph dynamically in Asai’s very act of creation. They emerge nested, one within the other, like micro eco-systems within a larger universe. The paintings are made with a natural medium – the earth, soil, or “dirt”. In 2008, Asai began using soil to create “earth paintings”, often collected from the site-specific location of the painting. Asai has since experimented with other spontaneous materials, making art with non-conventional everyday mediums like dust, flour, and masking tape.