Akiko Ban

Akiko Ban was born in 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. In 2002 she moved to London and studied BA in Drawing at Camberwell College of Arts (2003-2006) and MFA in Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art (2006-2008).

Her practice is cross-disciplinary, and collaborated with choreographer, dancers, musician, fashion brand, designers and other artists. She has recently launched her on-going project, MYSTIC FORMS, a hand crafted jewellery collection, with a graphic and digital media designer Taiyo Nagano in 2015, exploring the relationship between art and body to endeavour the idea of Wearable Art. She also worked as a visiting tutor at Camberwell College of Arts (2016-2017).

About her practice, Ban shares, “My artistic practice seeks to give lives to materials, generating individual bodies which I believe have their own existence. These ritual objects and environments were inspired by contemporary and ancient culture, music, fashion and my own daily experiences. I present art work as a means of expressing my personal mythology which embodies the essence of the world I live in.”

“By employing fluid materials such as water, ink, plaster and fabric, I intend to spark a moment emerging through the interactions between material, time, environment and myself. Each piece is a unique and improvised rapidly and responsively. I call this process manifestation of entity, it takes place when my unconsciousness is in tune with the integrated materials. Prior to my creation, I carefully studies the materials logically and intuitively until they start to form a part of my entity, which later allows me to work spontaneously. My background as a trained Japanese calligrapher helps my access the state of unconsciousness yet sensory acute state during which the work brings the generation process. “

See her website at http://www.akikoban.net/