Women in Art: Chika Mizusawa’s Twisted Fantasy Artworks

In late 2022, Chika Mizusawa — best known under the moniker Genkakulemon — served up a feast fit for a twisted Alice in Wonderland banquet. On the menu: a bright blue embroidered fish bleeding yellow blood and flowers onto a ceramic white plate, a vermillion rose with a steak at its center, and a vibrant red lobster growing a bouquet across its lower abdomen.

Mizusawa’s curious creations struck a chord online, drawing thousands of followers to her Instagram. She has since branched out into making heart brooches — the organ kind — that bloom with stumpworked flowers, and single hands clutching bouquets.

TW sat down with Mizusawa to have a chat about all things twisted and artistic.

What fueled your interest in embroidery and ceramics?

I’m from Miyagi Prefecture, but I have been in Tokyo since I was 18 to attend art school, where I studied oil painting. I’ve always loved creating, and I’ve kept a sketchbook with me from a very young age. I’d always be drawing and creating things with my hands. I was in sewing club during elementary school and would often play around with clay. I started Genkakulemon seriously in 2020.

How did you pick the name Genkakulemon?

When I was young, I wanted to be a manga artist. I had written “Genkakulemon” in my sketchbook, so when I decided to start an art group with two friends, I put that name forward for the group. I won a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors so we became Genkakulemon. In the end, it became a solo project, but I kept the name because I liked the sound of it.

Your online profile says your eternal theme is “For a Girl.” Can you expand on this?

There is a French film I love called L’Amant, where the lead character has a free and innocent side but also an air of mystery, which is cold, mature and erotic. I like this mysteriousness, and I think all women are like that. This mixture of light and dark provides inspiration for all my works.

How did you get the idea for your food series?

The rose piece was the very first thing I wanted to make. In Japanese, “bara” means rose but is also a cut of meat, so I always had that at the back of my mind as an idea. There is also the association of “bara” murders — where the body is dismembered — making it “bara, bara, bara …”

From there, I thought it would be good to do a feast of daydreamed food. I originally thought I’d sew flowers growing out of a Coelacanth, but the image of flowers bleeding out grew on me. When I posted it on Instagram, I never expected it to have the reaction it did. When it blew up, I thought I’d been hacked and started Googling ways to check.

Who or what inspires you?

When I was younger, I read a lot of books. I was always reading. I read a lot of Shuji Terayama, an avant-garde poet and novelist. In terms of visual imagery, I’m a great admirer of Japanese painter Kuniyoshi Kaneko.

Find Genkakulemon on Instagram.