Copperplate engraver Yoko Yamamoto has opened "Yoko Yamamoto: Art in Hospital" at the Isetan Shinjuku Main Building's 7th floor event space. The exhibition runs until June 30th. This is her first large-scale exhibition focused on art in hospitals. The exhibition features artworks and original drawings by Yamamoto, created to bring peace of mind to patients and medical staff spending time in hospitals. Also on display are works selected for "Art Take," an event in which patients choose pictures to hang in their hospital rooms, where Yamamoto says she felt a connection to the future. Some of the pieces available for purchase are also available. One of the pieces in the Art Take zone was selected by Yamamoto for a child with a condition that makes it difficult for him to even read, with the hope that the artwork would spark conversation between the child and his family and nurses. The exhibit includes "Tulips," Yamamoto's first hospital-themed ceiling painting in two special rooms at Chubu Rosai Hospital; "Bird Song" and "Auvergne Lullaby," murals in front of the treatment rooms at the Wakayama Medical University Hospital Maternal and Child Medical Center; and the original artwork for "Les chemins de L'amour," a mural Yamamoto created this year at the west entrance of Takamatsu Red Cross Hospital. This original is a rough sketch, like a blueprint, painted on a canvas the same size as the actual site in Yamamoto's studio, in preparation for the limited time he would be working in the hospital. After his father, a hobbyist, passed away after a long battle with illness in the hospital, Yamamoto lay down in his father's bed. There, he noticed the stark white ceiling with its many holes, and felt sad, thinking that this was the last thing he would ever see. Since then, Yamamoto has continued to question the power of art in hospitals, expressing his desire to paint a ceiling painting in his hospital whenever he meets medical professionals. During one conversation, the director of Chubu Rosai Hospital, whom he met during a meeting, agreed, and the first ceiling painting was born in 2005. Yamamoto commented, "This exhibition is not a one-sided presentation of my own worldview. Rather, it showcases works that address the social issue of the quality of hospital environments from an artist's perspective. There is no single correct answer to Art in Hospital, so I hope that viewers can join forces and contribute to a society where various problems can be solved." From 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on the 28th, Yamamoto will be holding a public exhibition where he will demonstrate the finishing touches of a canvas. A signing session will also be held on the 29th from 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM. Numbered tickets will be distributed to the first 80 people who purchase a book at the venue during the exhibition period.