Meet Tomoko Takeda, a Japanese abstract artist based who has taken part in our residency program. Interested in how the role of humans will evolve as AI becomes increasingly prominent, Tomoko’s expressive paintings explore the energy we feel through emotions and physical sensations.

In her Liquitex Residency, Tomoko wanted to expand her scale, using the time to experiment with the materials and methods needed to go BIG. With experience as a graphic designer and professional chef, Tomoko draws influence from a range of worlds, including traditional Asian textile patterns, architecture, tattoo designs and the mathematical patterns found in nature.
Her work features flowing, sinuous forms overlayed with geometric patterns to represent the impact of the digital and technological worlds on the human condition. It’s this juxtaposition of organic and binary elements that gives each piece its tension.

Tomoko is inspired everyday by the diversity of cultures and races in New York, and “the worldview I personally hold as an Asian person, as well as a kind of universal sensibility we have as human beings perceiving the world. I set out to create large-scale paintings during my residency and loved the Liquitex Acrylic Inks for subtle color adjustments, thin washes and fine layering. These let me enjoy my own colors infinitely.”

See more of Tomoko’s work at www.tomoko-takeda.com.