SOMETHING UNDERNEATH

Nendo founder Oki Sato chose to play on the feeling of mystery and apprehension for his take on monsters, delivering a series of panels in black and white featuring bumps and peaks in various sizes.

“Everything in nature that you cannot see or cannot understand becomes a monster in Japan, so I decided not to design a monster but rather design something that is invisible,” says Sato. “So people feel fear and worry because they cannot see it.”

Sato deliberately made the shapes more elusive. “I started with one piece and thought, What if there was something that was long, something that was slightly bigger and something that looks jagged? There is always something underneath—there is no answer; the answer depends on the person who owns the piece.”