Chiho Aoshima 青島千穂

Eerie, youthful spirits populate Chiho Aoshima’s dreamlike landscapes, which take the form of paintings, murals, prints, digital animations, and ceramics. A former member of Takashi Murakami’s Japanese art collective Kaikai Kiki, Aoshima gained popularity after she was included in Murakami’s acclaimed “Superflat” exhibitions in 2000 and 2001. Three years later, she participated in the Carnegie International, exhibiting a computer-generated, manga-inspired mural depicting curling tendrils of flames and the roiling force of a tsunami. In 2005, Aoshima gained even more visibility with “City Glow,” a multi-panel series of illustrations that were displayed as public art in New York City and London. The accompanying film of the same name, produced that year with animator Bruce Ferguson, reflects Aoshima’s deep interest in the relationships between humans and nature, as well as spirits like yokaibelieved to haunt the urban landscape. Balancing whimsy and darkness, her realms reflect tragedies of the past while imagining alternative realities.
Chiho Aoshima 青島千穂