The "Pointillism Mandala Works Exhibition" by Yuki Munakata, a pointillist mandala artist living in Aomori, will begin on January 28th at the health promotion facility "Kenko no Mori Hanaoka Plaza" (Namioka, Aomori City, TEL 0172-55-6363 ). Ta.

A pointillist mandala is a mandala painting that is drawn using dots and lines using a ballpoint pen on a black sheet of paper.

Munakata attended a workshop held in Kobe in 2019 and completed his first pointillist mandala. The experience of drawing the pointillist mandala provided Munakata with an opportunity to affirm and accept his life up until now, despite living with an incurable disease called ``systemic lupus erythematosus'' and Graves' disease, and his future life.

Munakata said, ``The first mandala I drew had a lot of irregularly shaped dots, but when I looked down at it, I was surprised at how beautiful it was and thought, ``Is it even possible for me to draw a picture like this?'' At the end of his life, ``I thought that everything, both the hard times and the joys, would be treasured.''

All nine works will be exhibited in the gallery space "Gallery Hanaoka" on the first floor of the facility. "I've had my work displayed at a friend's coffee shop before, but this is my first time exhibiting it. I'm happy to have the opportunity to have it seen by so many people," Munakata said. ``I want people to actually see it and feel a lot of things. I want people to spend time with themselves, focusing on the sensations of their mind, body, and consciousness,'' he says, inviting people to visit.

``I want as many people as possible to learn about pointillist mandalas, which have given me important insights,'' says Munakata, who is based in Aomori and holds workshops in Niigata, Saitama, Hakodate, Morioka, and other cities. A workshop will be held at the same exhibition on March 16th. The event will be held from 10:30 to 11:30. Capacity is 6 people. Participation fee is 500 yen. Applications will be accepted at Hanaoka Plaza.

Opening hours are 9:00 to 21:00. Closed on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Free admission. Until April 30th. We will notify you on Instagram when we will be in the gallery.