KARUIZAWA, NAGANO, JAPAN
Collection: RICCA OKANO
ARTIST STATEMENT
The environment of Karuizawa, where Ricca Okano’s studio is located, affects the background of the creation of her works. Inspired by volcanoes, fog, forests and their ecosystems, changing clouds and light, she transforms them into shapes and colors. Then, she adds to it the emotion of the moment. Scenes picked up from the present, past and future time frames are blended, like coffee beans, projecting layers of dripped consciousness.
Ricca OKANO (1965, Tokyo, Japan) graduated from Kyoritsu Women’s Junior College. After graduating college, she experienced making ceramic art while traveling. Then she entered Ceramic Art Technical School in Tajimi. Her energy started with a solo exhibition in Tokyo while helping her mother’s work. She hoped to express a new possibility of ceramic art with inspiration from material. Then she moved to the countryside, Karuizawa, in Nagano Prefecture from 2005. Using ceramics and a video, she tried installation art to express the real world and the spiritual world. She started making ceramic works with glassy glaze in 2020. She challenged herself to express the weather and emotions in her ceramic works. It was born from the projection of her daily feelings on the nature of Karuizawa, the sky, snow, and water around her. She attended the Art Fairs in Karlsruhe 2009, Germany, SHINANO Primitive Sense Art Festival 2015, Solo exhibition (Art Space 563/Taipei) in 2016, Group exhibition: 3rd Discover The One Japanese Art (Ashok Jain Gallery/ N.Y.) 2017 and 20th TARO Award (Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum/Kawasaki) in 2017, Artist in Residence HAKONE (Sengokuhara) in 2018, Solo exhibition (Mizusai/Tokyo) in 2021, 2022. She currently continues to make and exhibit her work as an artist and has opened a gallery ‘be here now’ in Karuizawa.
1965 Born in Tokyo, JAPAN
1985 Graduate from Kyoritsu Women’s Junior College
1990 Graduate from Tajimi Technical High School Advanced Ceramics Course
Solo exhibition
1994 Galerie412|Tokyo
1996 Gallery Genkai|Tokyo, Kaneko Art Gallery|Tokyo
1997 Galeria Ceramica|Tokyo
1998 Galerie pousse|Tokyo
1999 Galerie pousse|Tokyo
2000 Kukansha Sirako|Tokyo
2001 Kaneko Art Gallery 2|Tokyo, Gallery Ami|Osaka, Utuwa Studio TRY|Nakai
2002 Galerie pousse|Tokyo
2003 Utuwa Studio TRY|Nakai
2004 Gallery KOU|Tokyo, galerie ou|Osaka, Kaneko Art Gallery2|Tokyo
2005 Youkobo ART SPACE|Tokyo, Utuwa Studio TRY|Nakai
2011 Gallery Daiwa|Gifu
2013 TRI-ANGLE|Karuizawa
2014 KANEKO ART TOKYO|Tokyo, Gallery aTo|Manazuru, Gallery MUSAI|Tokyo
2015 Gallery KOU|Tokyo, BITOHA|Karuizawa
2016 Art Space 563|Taipei, Gallery YORI|Tokyo, art collection museum|Nagano
2017 art collection museum|Nagano, Shigitatuan|Oiso
2018 be here now|Karuizawa
2019 Imagine|Ashikaga
2020 Atelier Kika｜Kamakura
2021 Mizusai | Tokyo
IMASORA Coffee｜Osaka
Kukansha-Shirako|Tokyo
2022 Mizusai | Tokyo
Ginza Mitsukoshi|Tokyo
2023 IMASORA Coffee｜Osaka
CONTE ｜Okinawa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2003 Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
2005 Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
2007 Sense&Space exhibition (Chikuma River Highway Museum|Nagano)
2008 TRI-ANGLE|Karuizawa
2009 ESPACIO TAO|Madrid-Spain, Imagine/Ashikaga, Gallery Daiwa|Gifu
2010 TRI-ANGLE|Karuizawa, Galerie Pousse|Ginza
2011 Gallery MIZUNOSORA|Tokyo
2012 KOKORO- Gallery SUDO|Tomizu, 108 Earthly desires- Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
2013 PAGE- Gallery SUDO|Tomizu, Rolling into the stream- Atelier Kika|Kamakura
Art Contrada di KARUIZAWA
Feeling to go to the growth-Gallery TUYUKI|Odawara
2015 art collection museum|Nagano, Galactic Stream- Wachigai|Nagano
Nusutomori- Shingoster LIVING|Tsukuba
Arlan Huang x Ricca Okano-Flowers of The Moon- Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
Palm-of-the-Hand Stories- Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
Feeling to go to the growth- Gallery SUDO|Tomizu
2016 In Tune- BITOHA|Karuizawa, Gallery TUYUKI|Odawara, Palm-of-the-Hand Stories- Gallery Bi-dama |Osaka
Feeling to go to the growth-Gallery TUYUKI|Odawara
2017 [3rd Discover The One Japanese Art] Ashok Jain Gallery|N.Y
2018 [Artistic feeling…Vol.Ⅱ] Imagine|Ashikaga
2019 Noie|Mashiko
Oiso Utsuwa Days|Toson House, A OISO La|Oiso
Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka[BRIDGE](Cube Gallery_Tokyo, Kinokuniya Siam Paragon, Isetan Bangkok)
Imagine|Ashikaga
2020 [STAY]Kai Sengokuhara｜Hakone[Nocturne]Gallery Bi-dama|Osaka
2021 [Feast Life Aesthetics Exhibition]Touch Ceramic｜Hong Kong
GALLERY Utsuwa note|Kawagoe
2022 Gallery noir/NOKTA |Shizuoka
Tou YOKARIYO｜Okinawa[On Matter and Meaning} comptoir102｜Dubai
2023 Eutectic Gallery[U.S.A.] x Tosei Kyoto Gallery[Japan] Online Exhibition
Award, Art Fair, etc.
2009 Art Fair “art KARLSRUHE 2009” (Gallery SUDO|Germany)
2015 SHINANO Primitive Sense Art Festival 2015
2017 20thTARO Award -Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum|Kawasaki
2018 Artist in Residence HAKONE | Sengokuhara
2022 Thirst Exhibition_Contemporary Asian Craftsmanship x Sydney Design Week (overduestudio |Sydney )
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