These surreal artworks explore the uncanny experience of sleep

Tomihiro Kono is obsessed with sleep. It first took hold after he was suddenly struck with a sleep disorder in 2024, and since then he’s been so fuelled by it that it formed the basis of the veteran wigmaker’s latest project. Konomad journal is a Japanese and English arts publication, led by Kono and visual artist and photographer Sayaka Maruyama. Over two months, Kono recruited over 60 artists from all over the world into his Forest of Dreams and Sleep, inviting readers into their beds and the unconscious through visual work and interviews about their bedtime and morning routines, sleep habits, and memorable dreams.

Claire Barrow takes us through a filthy pastel gameboard of dreams, while Balfua offers a Boschian scene and experimental sculptor Ram2 draws on anime to play with practicality. There’s Gaspard Girard d’Albissin, whose paintings are languid and glamorous, Justin Morin tattoos tulips and drapes between dusk and dawn, and photographer Mark Peckmezian draws on the commercial and organic. ”We envisioned a collective of artists coming together to create a forest that embodies dreams and sleep,” says Maruyama. ”Tomi stands like a towering tree at the centre, calling out to artists who then contribute to growing this vibrant, creative forest of dreams together.”

Konomad journal is unapologetically ambitious, eliminating traditional commercial boundaries and pretensions in favour of a deeper multimedia, multicultural approach. The back cover reads, “As We Open to All, Imaginations and Feelings, We Rest in Greater Forest.” The journal marks the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for Kono. Best known for his otherworldly wigs and work with designers like Junya Watanabe and Comme des Garçons, Kono here takes on a new role as editor-in-chief. It seems only fitting that the inaugural issue would represent an attempt to bridge the gap between “the cyclical world of imagination and the real world”.

What prompted you to start working on konomad journal?

Sayaka Maruyama: We were initially invited to hold an exhibition or event at New Gallery Tokyo in Jimbocho, Tokyo, in mid-March through our friend editor Moe Nishiyama. We had the freedom to propose any idea we liked, so we decided to create a magazine – a long-held dream of Tomi’s. Having contributed to many magazines himself, Tomi wanted to create a platform where he could invite other artists to contribute as well.

What inspired this dream to be an editor-in-chief? 

Tomihiro Kono: As a hairstylist and wigmaker, I was mostly a contributor to the narrative created by the stylist and photographer. My perspective on beauty and art is broader, and I want to gather the versatility and preserve it in the form of a book.

How did your previous work prepare you for this project?

Tomihiro Kono: During the COVID-19 pandemic, starting around 2020, we followed artists who inspired us, and many of them followed us back. We respected each other’s work but never had the chance to meet or collaborate in person. When people think of me as a wig maker, they often assume collaboration means working with me solely as a wig artist. This narrow view limits the types of collaborations we can explore. Taking on a new role has opened up more possibilities for creative collaborations.

The journal has a variety of visual works and also features interviews with contributing artists, focusing on their sleep and dreams. Was there a particular question you hoped to answer in the issue?

Tomihiro Kono and Sayaka Maruyama: For our readers, we hope it offers a moment to reflect on their own dreams and sleep. We can’t see it directly, but sleep always lies behind each artist’s work. As living beings, sleep is essential. As artists ourselves, we were personally curious about how each artist spends their sleeping hours – and how those moments relate to their creative process.

Your body of work lends perfectly to the theme of dreams. How did you select which of your pieces you’d include in the journal, and how do they reflect your dreams?

Tomihiro Kono: We can interpret ‘dreams’ not only as those we have while sleeping but also as our hopes and visions for the future. In that sense, wigs reflect our dreams of transformation.

Sayaka Maruyama: In my photography, I’m especially drawn to creating imagery with soft, sleepy, or dreamy colours. Dreams themselves often feel like collages – strange situations stitched together with disjointed narratives – and my personal work tends to reflect that same quality. There’s a dreamlike randomness to the styles and mediums I use. I enjoy working across photography, drawing, graphic design, collage, and often combine these mediums in experimental ways. In my work, styles shift fluidly, mediums merge, and nothing remains static.

Were you surprised by any of the interpretations of the theme? 

Tomihiro Kono: Honestly – and maybe a bit expectedly – many of the works we received leaned toward the darker side. We like them, though. When we first thought about the theme of ‘dream-sleep’, we imagined it might be a more random mix of dark and joyful or whimsical dreams [laughs]. We made an effort to balance the overall tone during editing, so it wouldn’t come across as too dark... at least, that was the hope!

What was your favourite part of the process?

Sayaka Maruyama: Designing and editing the book, and reading through the artists’ responses to questions about their sleep habits. It was also fun to illustrate them as a creature in the forest. Because one of the questions that we asked them to answer was, ‘Imagine you are one of the creatures or elements in Konomad's forest. What kind of creature or element would you be?’ This forest is a creative ecosystem, where each participating artist lives as a unique being that shapes their world.

What do you have planned for the exhibition at New Gallery?

Tomihiro Kono and Sayaka Maruyama: We’re creating a bedroom-like space. We envision an exhibition where the journal’s artwork rises and breathes within the space, bringing the pages to life. We’ll feature a bed mattress covered with bed sheets of fragmentary dreamy photos, with printed images on pillows, cardboard pyjamas, a dream-sized whimsically oversized spoon sculpture, and even a ‘do-not-look-in-the-night’ iPhone case that doesn’t allow you to unlock, among other playful elements related to dream and sleep. 

What kind of dreams have you had recently?

Sayaka Maruyama: I usually forget my dreams, but this morning I had a bad one. We were in a cave that felt like a maze, with narrow corridors, and massive bricks were falling down on us here and there, like in an escape game. We had to keep moving and watching above to avoid getting crushed. I often have these kinds of 'we-must-escape' dreams. I feel like it’s a mission in my life…? [laughs]

Tomihiro Kono: I had a really vivid and memorable dream on March 21. You can read about it in my journal – not only in the Q&A pages but also as a short manga story at the end of the issue.

konomad journal’s immersive exhibition at New Gallery in Jinbocho, Tokyo, until 3 July, 2025. The inaugural issue of is available to purchase here