Daniel Lebow
Tokyo, Japan
Daniel Lebow is an American-born artist based in Tokyo, Japan, whose work captures fleeting human moments with wit and sincerity. After studying drawing, painting, and printmaking at the University of Georgia, he spent years balancing life as a teacher, father, and creative, often wondering when he’d return to art. That moment came recently, with clarity and purpose. Using pen on blank business cards, Daniel documents strangers on trains — quiet reflections on presence, ego, and impermanence. His practice is a reminder to pause, observe, and let the world simply be.
Artist Interview
From the Artist
As an artist, I feel touched by a universal creative impulse. I express this impulse best when constrained by medium and subject, just as I understand the universal impulse to be limited by natural laws. Therefore, my drawings are generally constrained to ink and watercolor, consistent subject matter, and diminutive size.
I draw from life on blank business cards while riding trains in Tokyo, Japan. I place the cards over my smartphone screen in order to remain anonymous while drawing. With my pen, I try to capture the ontological essence of my fellow crowded commuters, fitting their jumbled faces, bodies, clothes, and bags into too small a space. At the same time, chaotically scribbled negative space stands for the cosmic void.
I am inspired by philosophical inquiry, science and nature, and the artwork of countless artists—among them most meaningfully by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb. His raw, honest, and often grotesque depictions of humanity have opened my eyes to the artistic possibilities presented by the absurdity and beauty of existence.
My hope is that viewers of my art will recognize in my figures their own ontological dilemma, and through its acknowledgment find connection with and compassion for their fellow passengers on this train called life.