Since its birth in 2018, Tokyo Love Hotels has showcased and provided a platform for over 300 local and international artists, exhibitions, pop-ups and performance acts. In collaboration with Metropolis, Tokyo Love Hotels cherry-picks one talent each month to be featured as LOVEHO SELECTS, showcasing artists and small businesses to readers and culture enthusiasts alike.

Tokyo Love Hotels is an art event organization based in Tokyo, Japan, that gathers local and international talents of all ranges to share a night of art, music, experiences and love with the community. They support artists by providing space for them to perform, promote, network, sell and exhibit their work; free of charge and commission.

Artist: chiphas

Official Biography:

Nigerian artist whose work explores themes of identity, culture, and the human experience. Through art, he hopes to find a way to connect with others and share his vision and voice with the world, creating pieces that are both visually stunning and emotionally resonant.

LoveHo: What brings you to Japan?

chiapas: I was awarded a scholarship by the Japanese government that enabled me to further my studies and research and write a Master’s thesis on the role of art in peace-building.

LH: How did you get into art?

c: I originally wanted to make animation as a kid and found out that what I was most interested in was not animation but being able to produce works that people could identify with or be familiar with.

LH: What inspires your current style?

c: Often, the environment, culture, and personal interests can be a huge influence in one’s life. For me, I have been primarily influenced by Afro/Black Art because of my birthplace and the ideas it espouses; Japanese pop culture because I live in Japan and worked in a Japanese artist studio as an assistant, which exposed me to Japanese art techniques and history. And as for other influences, they come, settle, or just don’t imprint much. But to name a few adjacent inspirations, I think of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian revolutionary musician, then the well-known Baskiat, my contemporaries, and many other predecessors.

LH: What do the figures or “masks” in your art represent?

c: It’s a metaphor that suggests we wear various “masks” in different social contexts. 

As a teenager, I used to read a lot of psychoanalytic literature by Kant, Nietzsche and other popular works within that framework. Growing up, learning more about my background and interacting with people kept raising some questions within me, such as: Who we were, how we project ourselves in society, and our destination. 

Many African societies represent the spiritual with masks; thus, I felt that using a spiritual representation of the unknown juxtaposed to humans could be an alternative representation of how people go by in societies around the world, existing as their higher self, sometimes being just a front-face or shrouded in mystery. 

LH: Please pick one of your artworks and share the message behind it.

c: The orange real face or beauty and mask. The work displays beautiful flowers and a mask as main subjects. It allows the viewer to play and wonder with both notions of beauty and mystery, as if for something to be charming, it has to be embedded in a sort of unknown appeal.

LH: Any future desires?

c: Yes, I hope for people to familiarise themselves with my works. Perhaps have a look at what I have produced so far and give me their impression. I am always happy to hear about how my work impacts people. Finally, I will work towards having successful shows and beyond.

LH: Do you have a message for our readers?

c: Dear readers, your dreams are valid and can serve the greater good. As you remain relentless in their pursuit or not, make some time to acknowledge how far you have gotten.

Instagram: @chiphas