Chiho Aoshima

(Japanese, born 1974)

Chiho Aoshima is a Japanese artist best known for her involvement in Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki art collective. Influenced by the linear aesthetics of ukiyo-e artist Hokusai Katsushika and Japanese pop culture, Aoshima uses the software program Adobe Illustrator to create drawings of surreal landscapes. Replete with young girls, sushi chefs, zombies, and cute animals, her large-scale, dreamlike works are printed onto paper and other materials. “Because of the places where I’m presenting my work, I sometimes feel I have to make lighter, happier images,” the artist has said. “But I really enjoy drawing the dark, disturbing worlds. Of course, in the end, even those should be cute.” Born in 1974 in Tokyo, Japan, Aoshima studied economics at Hosei University in Tokyo before deciding to dedicate herself to making art. Though not formally trained, Aoshima’s drawings are made with the Superflat aesthetic and perspective in mind. Her exhibition “Rebirth of the World” and pieces titled City Glow and Japanese Apricot demonstrate her dynamic handling of both natural and synthetic worlds. Her works are in the collections of the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, and the Seattle Art Museum, among others. Aoshima lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.