Born in Nagoya in 1945, Asa Mizuno has painted for over seven decades in near-total solitude — not as an act of withdrawal, but of absolute fidelity to her work.

Beginning at fourteen, she made regular visits to Masayoshi Nakamura's home to show him her work. One of postwar Japan's most radical painters, Nakamura left her with three rules: don't look at others' work, don't show your own, don't listen to others' words. She has never broken them.

The result is a body of work unlike anything else in Japanese art.