Born 1975 in Osaka (Japan), based in Kyoto (Japan)

Graduated in sculpture from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1998, completing the department's master's program in 2000 and doctoral program in 2003. Recognition for his work includes Kirin Art Award 2003 and the first place of the grand prize at the 14th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh 2010. His large-scale solo exhibition, "KOHEI NAWA - SYNTHESIS," was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2011. One of Japan's closely watched young artists, Nawa uses beads and prisms, polyurethane foam, silicone oil and other synthetic materials to forge new roads into the possibilities of sculpture. In particular, Nawa is an advocate of what he calls "PixCell," a coined word formed by combining the "pix" of computer screen pixels and the biological term "cell." In the series of the same name, he covers the surface of taxidermied animals and other items purchased from online auction sites with glass beads of various sizes, questioning among other things the existence of objects and our perception of them in the information age. In Kyoto, Nawa is involved in SANDWICH, a platform for cross-disciplinary creative activities involving architects, photographers, designers, and so on.