Akiko Usami

Clarice 1 and Clarice 2, 2011

Ink, origami, spray paint, on paper

These carefully constructed works are executed on rolled paper and include origami – lending the work a sculptural dimension. Using ink and spray paint Usami builds up layers of repeated patterns drawn from Japanese textile design motifs. Her work strives to discover and escape within the familiar and everyday.

Akiko Usami is a British-Japanese artist living and working in London. Her paintings are an attempt to transform the rhythm, movement and sensation evoked by sound into a tangible and physical object. The repeated lines characteristic of her work attempt to produce a calm, melodic – almost hypnotic – effect on the viewer. Akiko has said that her intention is to use a controlled spontaneity to build up sensation, retaining qualities of the handmade and the physical activity of painting.

“We may repeat the same thing every day, but every day is different.”

Akiko Usami