Hitomi Aoki
“Cradle”
Exhibition runs: December 7th, 2024 – January 5th, 2025
Haven Gallery is pleased to present “Cradle”, a collection of new paintings from Japan based Hitomi Aoki for her second solo show at the gallery. “Cradle” features nine ink and watercolor paintings, rendered through impressively small, tightly rendered compositions, reminiscent of historical, miniature artworks. Inspired by motifs and aesthetics spanning history and the globe, one finds influence from many cultures, timelessly depicted and theatrically presented, encapsulating the viewer into a world enshrouded in mystery, magic and the unearthly. Hitomi offers a glimpse into a surreal dimension of chimeric beings and anthropomorphic cats as new worlds and perceptions are shared with the viewer.
One can find aesthetic inspirations from Japan, India and even Persia through the influence of flora, clothing and patterned ornamentation, as well as illustrative tendencies from the West via the Golden Age of Illustration artists working out of England and the United States. An amalgamation of influences coalescing into surrealscapes revealing the inner dialogues and emotions of the artist are portrayed in fairytalesque narratives captivating and transporting viewers to a place only found in dreams.
Artist Statement:
The theme of this exhibition, “Cradle,” in addition to its original meaning, also represents a warm habitat for the monsters I imagine.
The intricate patterns around my artwork serve as a window between the other world where they live and our real world.
Each work is very small, but beyond its window lies a tremendous abyss, filled with a world that makes you want to peek in out of curiosity and touch it fearfully.
About Hitomi Aoki
Hitomi Aoki was born in Gifu prefecture in 1987. She studied at Tama Art University and majored in oil painting. She now lives in Kanagawa prefecture.
She consistently draws mysterious life forms with overwhelming detailed lines and dots drawings by using papers and pen. Motifs of her works are made of intertwined ivy, petals and various parts of animals. Her consciousness spreads into every corner of these motifs and they bring us breathtaking surprise and pleasure to follow these motifs with our eyes.
