Like human memory, the spaces we inhabit often 'forget' us, transforming in our absence. This continual change can leave individuals feeling insignificant and their existence fragile.
The theme of my work, 'vignette', arises from a deep yearning for belonging and remembrance. As an expatriate’s daughter growing up in various countries, I absorbed diverse cultures but faced many goodbyes, shaping my complex identity. Each location became an anti-chamber of bittersweet memories, where places and faces fade, and I too fading from their lives. My narrative is a record of my existence and memory.
Each work is a snapshot, a diary entry from the lifelong search for a final resting place; the scenes portrayed are intimate views of memorable locations that once had to be left behind. They are attempts to capture the space when I was present: of when it knew me, acknowledged me of my existence.
I portray companions in spaces as observers. They are figures inspired by Jizo and Dosojin statues, traditionally placed along roadways in Japan as protectors of neighborhoods and travelers. As a replacement for the finite human memory, I believe they exist—hence, watch, confirm and acknowledge my existence in silence.
The 'choice' of using the Gansai watercolor medium mirrors the desire to understand and connect with Japanese heritage. Whereas, the 'execution' of Gansai reflects my incomplete identity within Japan’s socio-cultural context. My upbringing formed a fluid, multicultural identity, not conforming to the traditional 'Japanese' rules and framework. Visible layering is not a conventional technique, nor is the portrayal of interior spaces with dramatic lighting. These choices are intentional; they define the fogginess of memory and the emotions of uncertainty within.
I aim to connect with others who share similar backgrounds, offering insights into our struggles with identity and belonging in a transient city like London. I want people to understand that there is someone else in this city who, like them, struggles with questions of identity and cultural belonging.
Nohana Sayama (b.2003, Osaka) is a Japanese artist based in London, a recent graduate of Camberwell College of Arts, Fine Art: Painting. During her time at Camberwell, she developed her practice in watercolour. Raised in Singapore, India and Japan, she paints to journal her past, to record her existence, to have nameless characters observe her in silence. With the unconventional use of Gansai watercolour, she attempts to express her incomplete social-cultural identity.
She recently won the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award and the W Gordon Smith & Mrs Jay Gordon Smith Award at the RSW 145th Annual Exhibition 2026, as well as the Watercolour award at the CASS Art Prize 2025. She has also exhibited widely over the past year, including at World Art Dubai, the Affordable Art Fair, Southwark Park Gallery, the London Design Festival, and more. In 2026, she plans to exhibit and participate in Art Jakarta Papers, the Other Art Fair, Leeds City Museum, the Turps Spring Intensive course, and the Palazzo Monti residency, while also starting her MA Painting course at RCA.
