Michiko Itatani

Michiko’s conceptual process of painting is similar to writing a novel. After research and consideration, she makes a series of works.  Each work could parallel a chapter of a novel, though the order is looser and variation is used to restate. Despite the changing appearance of her work over the years, she has basic concerns, which have been quite consistent, always personal and humanistic. Using a fictional and symbolic space, she condenses experienced and imagined multi-layered events.

Her process of art-making starts with gathering various fragments from experiences, events, documents, literature, history, science, myths, customs. She catalogues those fragments, mutate them, make images, and let them interact with each other. It is an act of fusing research, observation, memory and imagination.