Tanaka Tatsuya’s Life in Miniature

Since April 2011, Tanaka Tatsuya has been posting miniature scenes of life on a daily basis since 2011. His work comes with a twist that makes it particularly individual in the world of the infinitely small: he subverts the intended use of everyday objects.

Broccoli is transformed into majestic trees under which people enjoy a picnic, while a horsehair brush becomes a harvest field.

‘The objects I appropriate must be common. They have to be things that people use daily so that they can project themselves into my creations’, explains the artist, who studied art at university before becoming artistic director of a graphic design studio.

Seeking out inventiveness

But how does the artist continue to find inspiration after having created these miniature scenes for so many years? ‘Ideas come to me when I’m travelling, or simply when I’m out shopping. I often go to look at objects and observe people in supermarkets and computer stores’, Tanaka explains. ‘Inventiveness is something that has to be sought out on a regular basis. I can’t create by staring at a blank wall or by getting lost in my thoughts’.

After his excursions, the artist returns to his apartment where he has a small creative studio to begin working on his tiny scenes. Piles and piles of objects of all kinds are stored in various drawers, alongside 20,000 2-cm-tall figurines that bring the scenes to life. There are also a number of tiny resin sampuru, enabling him to incorporate food into his artwork without wasting it.

Tanaka Tatsuya never could have imagined that his hobby that he engaged in alongside his paid job would end up taking up so much of his time and be turned into books, a calendar and even a mini TV series. ‘In 2015, I realised that I could earn a living from this activity, and even earn more than I did in my role as an artistic director. That was when I decided to devote my time entirely to Miniature Life’. The artist is involved in every step in the creative process, from scenography to taking the photos and posting them social media.

‘I like to see that after all this time my readers are still there. Their motivation makes me want to keep creating’, says Tatsuya, 70% of whose followers live outside of Japan. ‘The worst thing is when people don’t understand what the scene is supposed to resemble. When that happens, I question myself and try to go back to basics’.

This constant self reflection is just one way in which the artist strives to retain the childlike sense of wonder he has had since the beginning. ‘There is joy in discovering how things can look as if they were something else, just by changing the point of view. Unfortunately, we tend to lose this playful point of view when we become adults. We think only in terms of common sense and our perception of things is fixed. I try to change that.’