I have nurtured my musical and artistic expression amidst the harsh yet beautiful climate of Hokkaido and through my interactions with the Ainu people of Nibutani and Sapporo, as well as the local community. As I navigate the turbulent currents of a chaotic era, drawing strength from my somewhat peripheral experience of living with a disability, I have found a small but certain light of hope in the process of reweaving my relationships with others and the world, including nature, through the small boat of expression.

I believe that any expression, no matter how trivial, is about illuminating the world with one's own life. I would like to present my small, narrative-like works—paintings with embroidery on washi paper, accompanied by text—in the space of CREEK HALL, which is exceptionally beautiful with the warmth of wood and the resonance of the piano. Furthermore, I hope to express and weave these works together with you through two video and music performances during the exhibition period.

To escape the structure of human history, which has continuously set up enemies externally, I believe one prescription is to cultivate words and a gaze as forms of expression that do not succumb to the monsters within oneself—the darkness, pain, anger, and sadness.

Along with the constellations of our predecessors, I pray that the lights of hope from various people will connect to the world, twinkling like the sea of stars I once looked up at on a severely cold night in Hokkaido, so beautiful it was ferocious.

As one who has been gifted the lights of courage, the dignity of life, beauty, and solidarity on the wings of art, I too wish to hold up a small light.

I would be most grateful if you would honor me with your visit.


Sasaki Aoi Aoi Sasaki (visual/sound artist)
Based in Hokkaido, she is an artist of painting and sound who possesses a congenital animistic worldview and the experience of schizophrenia, which lacks a rigid ego. After being discharged from a psychiatric hospital in 2002, she began drawing pictures of her beloved animals with colored pencils at hand to re-examine what it means to live.

She later moved to Nibutani, Hokkaido, where many Ainu people live, and then to Sapporo, where she began composing for the piano. In 2022, the band she participated in as a performer and composer was selected as a finalist in the Sapporo City Jazz park jazz live contest. In recent years, she has also been producing video art.

She aims to draw and play the blessing of "life" in her own unique way.

Lives in Higashikawa-cho.