Japan is an example of a tough nation stronger than its buildings. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the tsunami that followed, Japan was hurting badly, but almost six years later the country has rebuilt. And Manabu Ikeda, a pen & ink artist, went through a similar process with the just recently finished massive drawing called Rebirth.

Manabu started work on Rebirth back in 2013 and since then he was sinking 10 hours a day, six days a week, to finish this 13×10 foot piece (it took him 3.5 years). It depicts a tree growing out of all the carnage caused by the disasters, surrounded by the tsunami waves crashing into the tree. But that’s only the surface of the image. If you look closer, you’ll see that the drawing consists of a myriad of tiny details which capture thousands of stories that were unfolding during the catastrophic events.

“My goal is to faithfully express my view of the world in my composition, but I don’t intentionally depict detailed images,” he told the Chazen Museum of Art. “Because I see details when I observe things, rather than the whole, I find pen and ink to be the best tools to express how I see them.”

More info: Manabu Ikeda (h/t: demilked, colossal)

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