I've recently returned from a couple of weeks travelling through Japan. Part motorcycle adventure, part artistic research trip, and a chance to step away from the studio and immerse myself in a completely different environment.
Japan had been on my radar for a long time. The motorcycles, the design, the art, the fashion, the street culture — there's something about the way Japan embraces both tradition and the unconventional that has always fascinated me.
Having lived and worked in New York, Los Angeles and London, I've always been drawn to cities with strong creative identities. Places where subcultures collide, where you can turn a corner and discover something completely unexpected.
Tokyo certainly didn't disappoint.
Five Days on Two Wheels
One of the main reasons for the trip was a five-day motorcycle tour through Japan.
Motorcycles have been part of my life for years, and there's something about exploring a new country on two wheels that you simply can't replicate from a train or the back seat of a car.
You're exposed to everything. The landscape, the weather, the sounds, the smells. There's a heightened sense of awareness that comes from being on a motorcycle, particularly somewhere unfamiliar.
It's also a great way to clear your head.
Away from the usual distractions of work, emails and the studio, you settle into a different rhythm. The road becomes your focus, and the journey becomes as important as the destination.
For me, motorcycling and painting share something in common. Both demand your attention, a willingness to take risks, and a certain amount of trust in your instincts.
And both offer a sense of freedom that's increasingly difficult to find.
Tokyo — A Visual Overload
Back in Tokyo, I spent time exploring the city's neighbourhoods, vintage clothing stores, streets and creative spaces.
I've always had an interest in punk, skateboarding, surf culture and vintage fashion, particularly the graphic language associated with those scenes.
Growing up in Sydney and later living in New York and Venice Beach, I was surrounded by a mix of music, motorcycles, street art and alternative culture. Those influences have found their way into my paintings over the years, sometimes deliberately and sometimes without me even realising it.
Tokyo offered a completely different interpretation of many of those same influences.
The attention to detail was extraordinary. Vintage American clothing, old band T-shirts, motorcycles, graphic design, signage, packaging — everything seemed to have its own distinct aesthetic.
I found myself constantly looking at colours, textures, typography and unexpected combinations of imagery.
It's the sort of visual information I tend to collect without necessarily knowing how or when it might find its way into a painting.
Sometimes the smallest details leave the biggest impression.
Discovering Taro Okamoto
One of the artistic highlights of the trip was visiting the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in Tokyo.
I'd been interested in exploring Japanese artists whose work challenged convention, and Okamoto was a fascinating discovery.
His paintings and sculptures are bold, expressive, sometimes confrontational, and often wonderfully strange.
There's a raw energy to his work that I immediately connected with.
What struck me was his willingness to embrace the unconventional. The unusual characters, exaggerated forms, powerful colours and refusal to conform to traditional expectations of what art should look like.
There was something liberating about it.
As an artist, it's easy to become preoccupied with technique, composition or whether a painting is heading in the right direction. Okamoto's work was a reminder that art doesn't always need to be comfortable, polished or even easily understood.
Sometimes it just needs to provoke a reaction.
I'll be writing a separate post about the museum and Okamoto's work, because it deserves more than a passing mention.
Picasso in the Mountains
Another memorable experience was visiting the Hakone Open-Air Museum.
Set against the mountainous landscape of Hakone, the museum brings together sculpture, architecture and nature in a way that feels completely different from a traditional gallery.
One of the main attractions for me was the Picasso Pavilion.
Seeing original works by Picasso in person is something special.
I've admired his ability to distort figures, reinvent familiar subjects and challenge conventional ideas of representation for years. His influence extends far beyond painting, and continues to resonate through contemporary art, graphic design and popular culture.
But seeing the physical works, rather than reproductions in books or images on a screen, adds another dimension.
You become more aware of the artist's hand, the materials, the scale and the decisions that went into making each piece.
It was a reminder of why experiencing art in person still matters.
I'll share more photographs and reflections from Hakone in a separate journal entry.
Bringing It All Back to the Studio
Since returning home to the NSW South Coast, I've been working my way through hundreds of photographs and hours of GoPro footage.
Looking back through the images, I'm beginning to recognise recurring themes.
The contrast between order and chaos. Bold graphic shapes. Unexpected colour combinations. Old and new sitting comfortably alongside each other.
And, of course, motorcycles.
I'm not entirely sure yet how these experiences will translate into my next body of work, and that's probably a good thing.
I've never been particularly interested in making paintings that simply document a place or reproduce what I've seen.
I'm more interested in what happens when those experiences collide with everything else I've collected along the way — from growing up around Sydney's surf culture to the years spent living in New York and Venice Beach.
Japan has added another layer to that visual vocabulary.
There are already a few ideas floating around for new paintings, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they lead.
For now, I'm enjoying the process of sorting through the photographs, revisiting the journey and allowing the experience to settle.
Sometimes getting away from the studio is exactly what you need to find your way back into it.
-VanDahl-
October 2026
Note: This is the first in a series of journal entries documenting my recent travels through Japan. Coming next: a closer look at the extraordinary world of Taro Okamoto, followed by a visit to the Hakone Open-Air Museum and its Picasso collection.
