Nobuyuki’s One Side Wing is a painting about uncertainty, life, and death. While discussing his own life viewed from his 50s forward, Shimamura says, “I came to realize in this world that things did not flow as I had imagined. Many mysteries can suddenly come from nowhere and change our lives completely.”

In that sense, One Side Wing speaks of the uncertainty of our lives, the fragility of our organic suits, and an unknown future. It appears that only one wing was given despite the need for two. Balance seems to be present, however, not without struggle. But Nobuyuki Shimamura sees hope... A feather near the model’s hand speaks of that, and the artist believes this little feather of hope will lead us out of the darkness.

The skulls hiding faintly in the background speak of human life and death, but the artist also wants them to remind us of the value of life amid this intrusive and peering mortality. Noboyuki conveys to the viewer that hope is ever present, lighting the path of the mind through periods of unexpected hardship.