Aya Takano

In Aya Takano visual musings of extraordinary imaginary capacity, she seeks to reinvent and reclaim the highly gendered otaku culture (geek culture) through a feminine perspective.  Drawing from the concepts of escapism and fantasy in shojo manga (girls comics) that derived in the uncertain post-World War II era of the 1970s, Takano´s images establish a kind of psychological sanctuary for her audience to surpass the "gravity" of social constraints by employing vaguely familiar but distant settings, all of which are transmuted into her delicately painted and vividly coloured canvases.

In Country of Turkey, three young girls are on a road trip.  The excavated white pillars behind them are reminiscent of the megaliths that pre-date Stonehenge-Gobekli Tepe, a place of worship built at an unprecedented scale—humanity's first "cathedral on a hill."  Perhaps the foremost female figure is performing a ritual dance, letting the overpowering beauty of the world fill her heart with love and opening her mind to cosmic relations.  This colorful composition is reminiscent of the spice market in Turkey, while the exotic world Takano creates provides an unusual and striking visual effect.  The two other girls depicted in the lower right corner of the composition reveal Takano's unwavering personal expression of sexuality and alludes to the theme of self-realization, echoing modern shojo manga romance narratives.

Untitled is unusually portrayed in grayscale hues.  The composition of the work suggests a girl taking a photo of herself on a surprisingly normal moon lit street —that is, normal aside from the male figure behind her urinating on an elect ricpole, accompanied by an octopus and a dog.  The overwhelming sensation of fantasy is deepened by the spaceship in the sky that seems to stop time, enticing us with notions of an alternate life force.  This unique fluidity in time and space is facilitated by the soft grey curving outlines in the painting, which evoke the aesthetic of Japanese comics and traditional painting where lines are used to delineate subjects from their surroundings. 

Art is a matter of transcendence for Takano, purely visceral at times.  She invites the viewers into her universe, like haikus, they are small musings on a long-running visual story that opens up to us her private world of unlimited possibilities and desire for momentary escape.

Aya Takano is a Japanese Superflat artist, mangaka, and science fiction essayist.  Born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan and graduated from Tama Art University.  Most of her art works are based on teenage girls, containing a POP illustration design.  Aya Takano was influenced by comics and science fiction novels, which caused her to draw characters that were odd and flirtatious; there is also an imagination beyond time and space.  In addition, her "Between The World" series contained visual elements of Rimpa School and Edo Period.  From her art pieces, we can observe the richness of Post-War Japan and during the process extends a sort of violent, diversified and complicated beauty within.  Currently, Aya Takano is one of Kaikai Kiki Gallery's top artist's.