Aiko Hachisuka

Sculptor Aiko Hachisuka makes objects by collecting, printing on, and stitching together second-hand clothing. Her sculptures typically occupy about the same amount of space as a human body, and act as anthropomorphized abstractions of the human form. With her use of bright patterning and unexpected shapely accretions, Hachisuka calls the viewer’s critical attention to common notions of fashion, design, elegance, and the distinctions between high art and haute couture. In works such as her 2011 Sugar Mates, Hachisuka has printed on textiles in loud, exuberant colors, stuffing her sewn-together amalgam with foam until it becomes a lumpy, almost animal form, overflowing with gesture, texture, and suggestiveness.

Hachisuka was born in Japan but studied art in the United States, where she currently lives and works. She has exhibited at the Hammer Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and is the recipient of a 2001 Core artists’ residency fellowship.