HIRO
NAMBA
Artist
Between discipline and chaos
the evolving language of Japanese calligraphy
the evolving language of Japanese calligraphy
Singapore
Tokyo
Bangkok
Tokyo
Bangkok
PORTFOLIO
HIRO
NAMBA
In a time where digital careers are unlimited and fast-moving, I still choose to commit myself to the slower, tactile path of craftsmanship. This is not just a profession for me — it’s a life to honor and carry forward my cultural heritage.
As a professional artist, I see my work as a daily offering — a way to bring love and passion ーinto your life. That is the promise I make with myself and the audience behind every piece I create.
As a professional artist, I see my work as a daily offering — a way to bring love and passion ーinto your life. That is the promise I make with myself and the audience behind every piece I create.
作品を創る喜びは、同時に規律を育み、感覚を研ぎ澄まし、自分のアイデンティティを明確にしてくれます。何気ない自然の姿に目を向け、耳を傾け、感謝することを学ばせてくれるのです。
デジタルに根付いた仕事が無限に広がり、急速に進化している現代においても、私はあえて、ゆっくりとした、手仕事による道を歩み続けています。職業という枠を越えて、自分が引き継ぐ文化的遺産を敬い、その希少価値を未来へと受け継いでいく人生の選択でもあります。
私の作品はささやかな日々への祈りです。その思いを、お客様の生活空間に届けるためです。ひとつひとつの作品に愛情と情熱が詰まっていることこそが、私が作家として活動する上での信念です。
デジタルに根付いた仕事が無限に広がり、急速に進化している現代においても、私はあえて、ゆっくりとした、手仕事による道を歩み続けています。職業という枠を越えて、自分が引き継ぐ文化的遺産を敬い、その希少価値を未来へと受け継いでいく人生の選択でもあります。
私の作品はささやかな日々への祈りです。その思いを、お客様の生活空間に届けるためです。ひとつひとつの作品に愛情と情熱が詰まっていることこそが、私が作家として活動する上での信念です。
Creating art brings me profound joy — but, it also instills discipline, heightens awareness, and grounds me in my identity. It makes me observe, listen, and appreciate the quiet details of the world that surrounds me.
Solo Exhibition
Suntory, Shanghai 2025
Workshop, Bangkok 2022
Jua, Bangkok 2022
Group Exhibition
Hin Bus Depot, Penang 2025
Major commissioned work
Satoko Kawai - Collector, Kobe 2025
Ramon Rabarca - Journalist, Madrid 2025
Glen Goei - Theater and Film Maker, Singapore 2024
Robin Dell - Collector, London 2023 European Union, Sarajevo 2023
Suntory, Shanghai 2022
Marketing and Branding
Alexander Lamont, Bangkok
Kad Kokoa, Bangkok
Art Consultat
Art Front Gallery, Tokyo
USP, Shanghai
Peddle Thorp, Shanghai
Creative Director
Jab Anstoetz, Shanghai
Showroom Manager
Odegard, New York
Visual Merchandiser
Foresti, Rome
Suntory, Shanghai 2025
Workshop, Bangkok 2022
Jua, Bangkok 2022
Group Exhibition
Hin Bus Depot, Penang 2025
Major commissioned work
Satoko Kawai - Collector, Kobe 2025
Ramon Rabarca - Journalist, Madrid 2025
Glen Goei - Theater and Film Maker, Singapore 2024
Robin Dell - Collector, London 2023 European Union, Sarajevo 2023
Suntory, Shanghai 2022
Marketing and Branding
Alexander Lamont, Bangkok
Kad Kokoa, Bangkok
Art Consultat
Art Front Gallery, Tokyo
USP, Shanghai
Peddle Thorp, Shanghai
Creative Director
Jab Anstoetz, Shanghai
Showroom Manager
Odegard, New York
Visual Merchandiser
Foresti, Rome
COMMISSION
Shanghai
SUNTORY
Transformation, 2022
Private Commissioned Work
Calligraphy ink on rice paper
150cm x 150cm
Private Commissioned Work
Calligraphy ink on rice paper
150cm x 150cm
Wind, 2022
Suntory Japanese Cuisine and Whiskey, Shanghai
Calligraphy ink, gold leaves on rice paper 150cm x 150cm
Suntory Japanese Cuisine and Whiskey, Shanghai
Calligraphy ink, gold leaves on rice paper 150cm x 150cm
Suntory Japanese Cuisine and Whiskey, Shanghai
,,
Hiro Namba
Ink reveals intention, distilling movement to its purest essence beyond ornament or excess.
Bangkok
Kimono
Commissioned Work
Private, Bangkok
2023
Private, Bangkok
2023
- Solo ExhibitionSuntory, Shanghai 2025
Workshop, Bangkok 2022
Jua, Bangkok 2022 - Major commissioned workSatoko Kawai - Collector, Kobe 2025
Ramon Rabarca - Journalist, Madrid 2025
Glen Goei - Theater and Film Maker, Singapore 2024
Robin Dell - Collector, London 2023
European Union, Sarajevo 2023
Suntory, Shanghai 2022
- Creative Direction, Marketing & BrandingAlexander Lamont, Bangkok
Kad Kokoa, Bangkok
Jab Anstoetz, Shanghai - Group ExhibitionHin Bus Depot, Penang 2025
- Art ConsultatArt Front Gallery, Tokyo
USP, Shanghai
Peddle Thorp, Shanghai - Showroom Manager & Visual MerchandiserOdegard, New York
Foresti, Rome
Calligraphy is my heritage.
I strive to carry forward and innovate the sophistication of East Asia.
I strive to carry forward and innovate the sophistication of East Asia.
Philosophy
Energy
Method
Each stroke is a fragment of breath, a moment suspended between silence and sound. My work begins where language ends — in the tension between control and release. What remains on the paper is not a word, but the trace of presence.
Rooted in centuries of Japanese calligraphy, my practice merges ancient discipline with contemporary expression. I create large-scale ink works, live performance pieces, and abstract compositions that explore rhythm, void, and gesture. Tradition is my foundation — not my boundary.
In the studio or on stage, ink becomes movement: unpredictable, raw, alive. Each piece unfolds in real time, with no chance to revise or repeat, carrying the full weight of the moment. What you see is not just the mark, but the breath that made it.
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Bangkok
AlexanderLamont
Interior Work
Alexander Lamont Styling
2023
Alexander Lamont Styling
2023
STUDIO
STAGE
In the stillness of his studio, Hiro Namba refines each gesture in solitude, layering silence into every line; on stage, the same gestures erupt into raw immediacy, ink flying in arcs of motion and risk. One cannot exist without the other — the precision of the studio feeds the chaos of performance, and the chaos breathes life back into the quiet.
My relationship with calligraphy started even before I spoke words. My grandfather was a master and my uncle as a teacher. The tradition runs in my family.
Every time I visited my uncle, he would fill his studio with paper and let me splash ink all over the floor just like Jackson Pollock.
In Chinese and Japanese calligraphy the brush becomes an extension of the artist's arm, indeed, their entire body. The artist's stroke not only suggests the movement of the body, but also inner qualities.
Therefore, the process of making art for me is as important as the complete work.
Every time I visited my uncle, he would fill his studio with paper and let me splash ink all over the floor just like Jackson Pollock.
In Chinese and Japanese calligraphy the brush becomes an extension of the artist's arm, indeed, their entire body. The artist's stroke not only suggests the movement of the body, but also inner qualities.
Therefore, the process of making art for me is as important as the complete work.
Hiro Namba has been playing with ink since 1985.
He travelled the world in search of what he needed and returned to his roots to find it.
—
He inhales music and exhales art.
He travelled the world in search of what he needed and returned to his roots to find it.
—
He inhales music and exhales art.
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