Akiko Usami

Artist

Akiko Usami

Artist

I make paintings and drawings that reflect my interest in repetition. Weaving colours and patterns, I use repeated mark making, building up layers to create an overall sensation for the viewer to immerse themselves, exploring the space within the work as though mapping a sense of place. Sometimes the eye and hand waver and small disruptions occur, affecting the repeated motifs. The tension between keeping the repeated marks exact and the unintentional changes that occur are something that I incorporate and exploit as a means of magnifying the hand made aspect of the work. Born in Japan but having lived in the UK since the age of one, my Japanese heritage continues to inform and inspire my practice.

Art Education

1997-99 MA(RCA) Painting, Royal College of Art

1991-94 BA(Hons) Fine Art, University of East London

1990-91 Foundation Course, Camberwell College of Arts

Selected exhibitions

2009                        Island series, Tsuru, London
2008                        Unnatural Worlds, Casson Gallery, Eastbourne
2007                        This is About You, Whitecross Gallery, London
2006                        Water, Sartorial Contemporary Art, London
2006                        Continental Breakfast, Maribor Art Gallery, Slovenia
2005                        Red October,Seven Seven Contemporary Art, London
2005                        Not Quite Here, Seven Seven Contemporary Art, London
2004                        22, Ladbroke Hall, London
2004                        Mesma, The Trafalgar, London
2003                        The Bold and The Beautiful, New Art from London
                                Carnegie Gallery, Hobart, Australia
2003                        The Bold and The Beautiful, New Art from London
                                RMIT Project Space, Melbourne, Australia
2003                        Bright Lights, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk
2002                        A Little Bold and Beautiful, Ferguson McDonald Gallery, London
2002                        The Bold and The Beautiful, The Pavilions, London
2001                        14x14, Mafuji Gallery, London
2001                        EWACC Group show, Japan 2001 Festival, London
2001                        Slap and Tickle, Vertigo Gallery, London
1999                        Extra Sensory, solo show, Galerie Claudia Gross-Selbeck, Dusseldorf
1999                        BTHQ: Painters from London Art Schools, London

2010 - present

Awards

2002 ACME five year live-work residency, The Sugar House. London

1999 Daler-Rowney Award

1998 John Crane Travel Award to USA

1998 Daler-Rowney Prize for Drawing

Collections

2011 Vital Arts

2000 The British Council Collection

1999 Galerie Claudia Gross-Selbeck

Commissioned work

2011 Barts Hospital, Vital Arts

2001 Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK

Catalogues/Publications

2005                        Zoo Art Fair catalogue
2003                        The Bold and The Beautiful, New Art from London
2003                        Bright Lights, Sheffield Museums Trust
2001                        Ida Branson Memorial Bequest Exhibition
1999                        Art Review, July issue, p.45

Teaching

2004 - 2006 Richmond Adult Community College

Talks

2005 Artist’s talk, Beattie Lecture series, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College

2003 The Bold & The Beautiful exhibition talks, Melbourne, Australia

at Victorian College of Arts, RMIT University and Monash University

1999 Artist’s talk, University of East London; University of Northumbria