Issue 54 | 5 Minutes with Peter Martin, The Rainbow Captain
INTERVIEW BY JACINTA SONJA / WHAT’S ON
IMAGES BY JACINTA SONJA / ART PROJECT IMAGES BY PETER MARTIN
Going by the name The Rainbow Captain, Peter Martin’s work transcends conventional boundaries, embracing an ever-evolving narrative. We sat down with Peter to delve into his creative journey, the evolution of his identity as The Rainbow Captain, how he’s found inspiration in the wild landscapes of Hokkaido and his recent collaboration with local board makers, Island Snowboards.
Q. How did you come up with The Rainbow Captain and what does it mean to you as an artist?
Peter Martin (PM): When I started transitioning from being an art director to a full-time artist, I moved to a quiet location, in the middle of nowhere in Hokkaido. A fellow artist called me “The Rainbow Captain”—kind of like calling me a hippy artist in the woods. I then decided to change my name on social media to ‘The Rainbow Captain’. The Rainbow Captain is a story that grows with me, constantly evolving, and it’s open to interpretations—that’s what I love about it.
Q. As your story continues to unfold, how do your experiences intertwine with your art and your creative process?
PM: It’s all interconnected—my life, my experiences, and my art all feed into each other. There’s a quote by Chuck Close: “Creativity comes out of the work,” and that really resonates with me. I let things unfold naturally. One idea leads to another, which then sparks a whole new direction.
Q: You grew up in Upstate New York. What was that like, and how did it influence you?
PM: Upstate New York is snow country. I started skiing from age three, but I was captivated by snowboarding. One of the big influences for me was Trevor Graves, a legendary snowboard photographer, who taught me how to snowboard back in 1986, and I have been snowboarding most of my life since.
Q: What brought you to Hokkaido, and how has it influenced your art?
PM: After years in Tokyo, and later, Vietnam, I felt disconnected from my creativity, so I moved to Hokkaido with my wife seeking simplicity. Surrounded by nature, I found the space to explore art without constraints. Hokkaido is now my canvas, shaping my work and giving it new depth—it’s where I recalibrated as an artist.
Q: How does nature influence your work?
PM: The greatness of the nature in Niseko and Hokkaido is everything—Hokkaido’s landscape, the changing seasons. I try to integrate my art with the environment, and not just create something to be framed and hung. I want my art (and the evolution of it) to coexist with nature, much like a puzzle in a bigger picture.
It’s a journey of finding how art and the environment can interact symbiotically. There’s beauty in that spontaneity, in letting things evolve organically. There’s even something beautiful about a hand-painted Japanese sign that gets weathered by time, snow, and rain. The evidence of time has passed and how it’s made by humans and aged by nature.
Q: What is your creative process like?
PM: When creativity takes over, it’s like a wave I can’t stop. It’s not even about me; it’s something much bigger. It’s exhilarating—yet, at the same time, it’s intense and overwhelming. It’s like tapping into something vast and unknowable. I realise you have to learn to ride those waves; it can blow your mind at times.
Q: Tell us about something you’ve created recently.
PM: I saw some old tatami mats that were about to be thrown out. I painted a character on them, and suddenly, they became a canvas for my art, and turned into a new form of artistic expression. I put them on a trolley, dragged them into the field and took some photos.
There was this other time, I was cutting out some eyes I drew for something, and the paper was left without the eyes. I stuck it on a mirror, and added the message, “Turn a blind eye”. It became a whole new piece that wasn’t planned but emerged from the process.
Q: Do you have a favourite medium you like to work with?
PM: I usually use things that I find, elaborate on it, change the context and allow a new meaning to emerge. Being a storyteller through a visual language is most important, I find the best medium to convey the ideas for that moment. The beauty of being an artist in Hokkaido, and particularly as a white person in Japan, is that my perception of things is inherently different. I’m constantly interpreting the environment around me, using Japanese materials in new ways, like how I’m constantly adding to the space at Island Snowboards.
Q. Speaking of your recent collaboration with Island Snowboards. How did you find each other?
PM: A long-time friend of mine, Koji Okumura—a team rider for Island Snowboards and a pro snowboarder—introduced me to Owain Bassett and Stu Cady, the owners of Island Snowboards. We started chatting, and one day Owain asked if I wanted to work on the graphics for a board they were making. We then worked together on the “Deep Psych” graphics, drawing on 60s psychedelic vibes, counter-culture, and abstract visuals.
Q. Tell us a little about how the Island Snowboards X The Rainbow Captain boards came about.
PM: We thought since we could do the printing in-house, we could do a limited run of different graphic boards. So we made 3 custom boards last year, which were sold in 7 days–that was pretty exciting. This year, I wanted to experiment with some analogue techniques using linoleum-cut prints, as a way to produce individual unique art pieces which were then translated onto the board. Each board comes with its own corresponding print making every board of the series one of a kind. The prints are made on archival paper, signed and dated.
Q. Where can we see more of your art work?
PM: I just completed some interior art installation work at Magic Mountain Bar. I painted on some paper umbrellas, flipped them upside down, added lighting and mounted them on the ceiling. I also make limited-edition items that are inspired by Hokkaido and the idea of the omiyage in Japan as a cultural phenomenon.
I’m currently working on building a body of work that transcends the traditional art space. I’m looking at creating immersive environments—art that’s more than just paintings on a wall. I want to integrate sculptures, lighting, and even music to create an experience.
Q. Finally, what do you hope people take away from your work?
PM: I hope my art inspires others to experiment, to find their own voice, and to realise that creativity isn’t about being flawless—it’s about being real, being in the moment, and letting your work evolve naturally.
Thank you Peter!
The Rainbow Captain @therainbowcaptain