Satoko Aoki
Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1986. Artist, designer. After completing her master's degree in Art and Design at Hiroshima City University, she taught at universities and vocational schools, then began her creative career in Kyoto in 2014. In 2022, she established a studio in Chiba, where she now creates her artwork and performs design work utilizing hand-drawn expressions.
Satoko Aoki's work is underpinned by the theme of "visualizing the invisible" – things around us such as emotions, memories, and sounds. She began her practice using the "tsutsugaki" dyeing technique, developing delicate lines reminiscent of Yuzen dyeing, and unique painting expressions incorporating the blurring and shibori characteristic of dyeing.
The mysterious lines and shapes in her works, which oscillate between the figurative and the abstract, originate from the "noise" that constantly arises within the artist's inner world. Ever-changing emotions, memories, and fragments of thought intertwine complexly within her works, generating a unique rhythm and narrative. This world, which offers new discoveries with each viewing, is also an attempt to transform "noise," previously holding a negative connotation, into positive "sound-thoughts" through art.
In recent years, she has been exploring a new creative approach: "expressing dyeing without dyeing," using familiar painting materials like acrylic paints and canvas. Based on her past experience as a textile artist, she focuses not just on the technical aspects of dyeing, but on the "concept of dyeing" itself—its texture, temporality, and serendipity—to pursue her unique pictorial expression.
Satoko Aoki's works depict invisible emotions, memories, and sounds with lightness and rich narrative through lines and colors. Her unique world breathes small discoveries hidden in complex daily life and a warmth that gently uplifts the viewer's heart.
Biography
1986 Born in Hiroshima Prefecture
2012 Completed Master's Program in Art and Design, Textiles and Dyeing, Graduate School of Arts, Hiroshima City University
2012–2014 Part-time Assistant at Hiroshima City University, Department of Design and Crafts; Part-time Lecturer at Bunka Fashion College Hiroshima
2014 Moved to Kyoto
2022 Moved to Chiba
Currently, based in her studio in Chiba, she engages in artistic activities and design work utilizing hand-drawn expressions.
Selected Awards
2021
Grand Prize, The Origin of Beauty Exhibition
Special Jury Award, Independent Tokyo 2021
Finalist / Exhibited in Paris, pebeo urban art contest
2020
3 Reviewer Awards, UNKNOWN ASIA
2019
4 Reviewer Awards, UNKNOWN ASIA
2018
Special Jury Award, Independent Tokyo 2018
Mainichi Shimbun Award, Kyoto Prefecture Emerging Artists Exhibition, The Museum of Kyoto
2016
Governor's Award for Excellence, Kurochiku Award, Kyoto Culture Venture Competition
2013
Asahi Shimbun Award, Kyoto Art Biennale, The Museum of Kyoto
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2026
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen hug –" ART GALLERY UMEDA / Osaka
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen figure –" GALLERY HEPTAGON / Kyoto
2025
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen figure –" Nunozawa Gofukuten / Shizuoka
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen figure –" ART GALLERY UMEDA / Osaka
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen figure –" aL Base / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen world –" gallery201 / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen world –" GALLERY HEPTAGON / Kyoto
2024
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – unseen world –" ART GALLERY UMEDA / Osaka
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition" Break zenya Suzhou Gallery / Suzhou, China
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Right Here –" gallery201 / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Invisible World –" aL Base / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Dyeing the Voice of Spring –" GALLERY HEPTAGON / Kyoto
2023
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Dyeing Sound –" ART GALLERY UMEDA / Osaka
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Dyeing Sound –" ALL DAY GALLERY / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Invisible Things –" gallery201 / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Connecting the Invisible –" GALLERY HEPTAGON / Kyoto
2022
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Connecting What I Want to Preserve Now –" The Origin of Beauty / Tokyo
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Seeing the Invisible –" gallery201 / Tokyo
2021
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – In the Blink of Fabric –" GALLERY HEPTAGON / Kyoto
"Satoko Aoki Solo Exhibition – Fabric and Lines, Dyeing the Present –" gallery201 / Tokyo