This room welcomes you to a world of blue. As a matter of fact, the oldest synthetic pigment in the world was this very shade of blue, made in Egypt 3500 years ago. The ancient pigment is called "lapis lazuli" and is used here as a symbol of all the paints made throughout time to reveal the colors of the world.

The artist of this room, Mina Katsuki, cast this vibrant blue as the protagonist in her story of minimalism. She calls it “One action, one stroke.” To keep in line with the minimalist theme, the room is fitted with white plaster and marble, and no other decorations. When you confront the element of "blue" she created in such a pristine space, you may feel overcome with a sense of mystery and sanctity.

In this "labyrinth of the city" where pure substances interact, you can immerse yourself in meditation or read "Chroma", the autobiographical essay written by British film director Derek Jarman about colors. I want you to fully enjoy the time you spend with this space.

How does this "blue" space speak to you? Let’s ask the artist what it means.

--Please introduce yourself.

My name is Mina Katsuki, and I’m the artist. I make blue paintings.

--- As a guest enters the room, they are immediately greeted by your grand painting covering the wall. First of all, could you provide some commentary on the painting and your process?

The concept of this painting started with wondering, “How can I focus my art on the paint?”

--- That’s very interesting-- to make a painting with the intention of showcasing the paint itself. But you must’ve had some other intention or motive, right?

When you look at a piece of art, there’s usually a theme attached to it. “The artist used this or that concept to share this or that message with the audience.” While I think that’s great, the more I thought about it the more I realized that, “No matter what the theme or concept was, one thing’s for sure-- I’m definitely looking at paint.”

--- It was the moment you realized all art is the combination of canvas and paint, and nothing more.

That’s where I felt my own sense of reality start to sink in. I can look at that one aspect of art, and truly focus on it. I understand that some artists want to share a deep message underlined in some theme, but for me, all I want to do is to put the paint on the canvas that’s standing right in front of me. It fascinated me to realize that all art has that in common.

--In that sense, it's about reality itself. About awareness that art is paint, and paint is art.

That’s when I thought to myself, "I want to make art to show off the paint." I tried a few methods-- I tried scraping the paint, or just layering a lot of paint on top of each other. But when I finished and presented these pieces to an audience, they were more focused on my technique rather than the paint itself. When that happened, I realized that even with my purest intentions, I also ended up focusing on things other than the paint! So I decided to get rid of technique altogether.

So how did I do it? I took a lot of paint, and in one go, one stroke, one brush, I finished.

--- This room has a button to operate the lighting with four different settings. What kind of relationship is there between the lighting and the artwork?

The reason why I had four light settings installed is to incorporate a sense of "meditation" which I mentioned earlier. I think each person has a different level of brightness which they prefer, so I wanted to give guests the freedom to use the level of lighting that best suits them. In all honesty, my recommendation is to turn off all the lights and view the work with natural sunlight on a sunny morning. You can really enjoy it that way.

--- Most art museums only open at around 10am or so, so getting a chance to view artwork with the crisp morning sunlight is a unique experience you can only have at this hotel.

Yes, and you can’t normally turn off all the lights at an art museum, so you almost never get a chance to see art in natural light. I definitely want you to try it for yourself.

-- Do you have anything you’d like to say to our guests?

First of all, thank you for choosing this room. When I was thinking about how to create this room, I wanted to make it a space where I can meditate. That's because I personally felt like I needed a break while the world raced by. I would be grateful if those who are feeling stressed can forget about their worries and take their time to enjoy this space.