RoamCouch (Ryo Ogawa) was born in Gifu, Japan in 1976. He is a street artist and Ukiyo-e painter (Ukiyo-e is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings which flourished in Japanese art from the late 17th to late 19th century).
He began to draw during his childhood, influenced by Japanese comics. He commenced working as a designer at the age of 18. Later, he was diagnosed with a serious illness, which made him rethink his life and career and he became an artist. In 2011, RoamCouch, began his transition into becoming a full-time artist.
Taking up to one year to create a piece, he produces his exquisite and romantic works of art by using over fifty different layers of hand cut stencil. His detailed and rich stencil paintings have redefined the stereotypical image of stencil art. Calling his new style “Neo Ukiyo-e”, RoamCouch works on art pieces by modernising Ukiyo-e methods whereby combining stencil art with Japanese handmade paper “Mino washi”.
2014 saw his first solo show titled “A Beautiful Life” in New York which achieved the impressive feat of selling out the entire collection.
RoamCouch started a project named “Emotional Bridge Project” in 2014 where he voluntarily began painting murals to revitalize his hometown. His aim is to attract art fans to his hometown by publicly exhibiting his works of art.