Naofumi Maruyama was born in 1964 in Niigata Prefecture. Maruyama uses a staining technique whereby he spreads water on an untreated canvas and allows it to absorb the paint through water. Conceived as a result are unique paintings that are at once figurative and abstract, in which the motifs depicted appear to fluidly coalesce with the colors. Maruyama continues to explore spaces where landscapes and people are harmoniously united with soft light and shadow, an expression which in itself is possible only in the context of painting. Since his debut in the 1990s, he has been highly regarded and is active as one of Japan’s most important painters. His major exhibitions include “MOT Annual 1999: Modest Radicalism” (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), “HAPPINESS: A SURVIAL GUIDE FOR ART + LIFE” (2003, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), “the front in the back” (2008, Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo), “Collection Exhibition: Floating Boat” (2011, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art), “DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow Exhibition (2022, The National Art Center, Tokyo). Maruyama is a recipient of the 2008 Annual Art Encouragement Prize, Award of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He currently lives and works in Tokyo and is a Professor in the Painting Department of Musashino Art University.