Asako Iwasawa is a contemporary Japanese painter from Akabane, Tokyo. She graduated from Tama Art University’s Textile Design course before managing Design Studio Himiko. She later discovered a passion for kimono design and worked at the batik studio Kimono Studio Dye Laboratory. Iwasawa spent 10 years living in the countryside, indulging her love for nature. Working as a farmer, she became intimately acquainted with the equally beautiful and harsh realities of the natural world. Though she returned to the city, she brought the vivid world of insects, plants, and natural beauty back with her. Iwasawa looks beyond the physical reality of the natural world and portrays the spirit of nature in her paintings. In her words, “nature is full of thrills and wonders…it impresses me to no end and fuels my imagination.” As she treads the boundary between imagination and landscape, she challenges the viewer's sense of place. Following an honorable mention in 2017, Iwasawa was the named the 2018 Ronin | Globus Artist-in-Residence.