Kaori Takamura

I spent my childhood in the 70s in the Tokyo suburbs during the rapid Japanese economic growth. It was a period of time when Western influences overflowed into our traditional Japanese culture and our everyday lives changed drastically, as what was once a culture with modest and simple aesthetics began to embrace a colorful and vivid flavor that symbolized joy, freedom and power. As children, we were enamored by our toys and games that adopted such new colorful painted patterns or primary colored plastics. This eyeopening spirit saw these trinkets as precious treasures that sparkled my childhood as a Japanese girl.

My artwork is based on memories of this specific period in my life - the adoration and melancholia of the spectacle of that moment I passed through. The familiar icons, symbols, materials and patterns all embody this bygone nostalgia.

Once a graphic designer by trade, I balance the relationships between design, art and craft through explorations within my body of work. My process first involves assembling images digitally in order to create laser cut elements that are painted or silk-screened. I then hand-stitch them together on a large panel with conventional quilt-like methods. I associate this physical activity to crafts I did as a child - a process that emulates a vintage toy-like feeling. The use of thread to interconnect these elements feel as though I am reconstructing a tangible memory.

Download Artist Bio