Artistic borrowings have always characterized human societies. However, the cultural fusion of recent decades is unprecedented in human history.

Given the artist Louis Lapointe’s interest in ethnology and creation, it goes without saying that his production is part of this trend of crossbreeding. The series of 11 paintings made in acrylic on canvas demonstrates his approach in the 1980s.

Each kimono represents a character from traditional Japanese society and was made on multiple canvases or vinyl supports, superimposed on each other. The exterior represented the image the individual wished to display in public, while the interior layers revealed a more secret and intimate aspect of the character.

Each kimono was associated with a theme and was treated as a true “collage”, both formally and stylistically. For example, the courtesan expressed the seduction and refinement of the court while the samurai opposed the unwavering sense of duty to the fanaticism of war.

Preparatory sketches for certain kimonos were made using a Macintosh computer and a colour PC computer; this technique was innovative, since the use of the computer as a creative tool was still marginal in the mid-80s.