This animator elevates memory into dusty, eerie vignettes

The act of creating art surrounding the every-day, the mundane or daily routines has become a bit of a cliché. It makes sense, considering artists are usually inspired by the ins and outs of their own lived experiences. But animator and artist Hewa, from Kyoto, Japan, takes these common vignettes of life and turns them into not-quite still life stories but stories that are still moving, still happening, still breathing.

“I don’t trust my imagination very much, so I often create works based on things I’ve actually experienced,” says Hewa. “I want to animate those indescribable states where all sorts of emotions get mixed up together.” In these micro-animations (that do well on social media, both because of their quick runtimes and windows into varyingly haunted and serene worlds), Hewa animates women dreaming of other realities, dinner guests locked into a perpetual state of laughing and empty streets lined with crooked houses. “I always create my work while thinking about those who struggle to find their place in this society. Therefore, I would be truly delighted if such individuals could see my work and find some kind of resonance within it,” says Hewa.

They sometimes recall the arthouse ambience of Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, other times reminding the viewer of atmospheric horror films like Hereditary or even Monster House. But mostly, these works stand on their own, with a unique, dusty painted texture and lightly geometric style that looks like cell shaded anime. Hewa has an original short in the works which he will begin production on next year, but, until then, take a walk through the whispery frames of this animator’s singularly surreal worlds – and try not to get lost in them.