Kaori Takamura works in acrylic on canvas with machine stitching in selected colored threads. In her works entitled "SEWN", she presents quiet emotions while evoking distant memories. What she is constantly seeking to capture in her work is the essence of long forgotten memories embodied in letter forms and familiar icons found in everyday objects. A graphic and packaging designer by trade, she balances the interrelationship between design and art through her explorations on canvas. The title 'SEWN' refers to the stitching together of various themes, concepts and emotions in a kind of patchwork quilt of expressions.In all of her work, Takamura treats letterforms, packaging icons and signage as timeless and strangely familiar subjects that evoke subtle memories and emotions.

'the STREET'

Everyone has a different flow in life from birth to death made up of all our daily decisions whether big or small. Sometimes you can’t decide your path in life and you flounder but as you make your decisions you live your life. As a result, your decisions bring you to where you are at the moment much like following the street signs that dot the various paths we take in our life’s journey.Each piece is painted in a unique technique of scraping and painting over and over again in a way I feel is similar to the building of life experiences. I also apply selected colored threads which represent life’s tangled thoughts that intertwine the layers of life experiences. The paintings are each framed in a heavy duty iron frame with stand and arranged in a solemn atmosphere, conveying to the viewer hints or feelings of this floundering through life and life’s journey.

'THE SHIRT SHOP"

The shirt series are like portraits of individuals’ lives and life journeys. This series use the same tangled threads and sewing technique I’ve developed in my paintings.  The threads I use represent the tangled thoughts and clumsiness of how we go through life. The letters and numbers used in these works can be seen as the footprints left by memories. The shirts within this project will be viewed as a large group of peoples’ portraits in honor of their individual lives giving merit to their individual life journeys.