AI SOGAWA CAMPBELL

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Ai Sogawa Campbell developed her signature water-based process to perceive nature’s phenomena and capture them in motion. Inspired by the ever-changing essence of waves, clouds, and bird murmurations, Campbell creates abstract paintings and mixed-media works with intricate details. After focusing for years on nature the artists objectives and personal experiences took the work into new territories, namely the exploration of human psychology, relationships and the themes of loss, healing, connecting with the past and reconciling it with the present. Like nature, these themes are also fluid and elusive. Water serves as a tool, wetting the canvas with a foam brush, adding muted liquid pigments with a dropper, and pouring water onto the surface, creating layers of “in between” colors and shapes that result from gravity and chance. Then, in a series of steps that include ink drawing, spray painting, and collaging details cut from her other pieces. Campbell’s creative identity is rooted in her heritage. Born and raised in Osaka, she grew up surrounded by traditional Japanese arts influenced by Zen Buddhism. The act of making art is a way for her to explore perception. In a world that won’t stop moving, the artist creates a space that freezes time–if only for a moment.

 Bio:

Ai Sogawa Campbell creates abstract paintings and installations that capture the dynamism of nature. Born in Osaka in 1978, she majored in oil painting at Kyoto College of Art and Design, moving to the United States in 2005. Since then she has explored her personal language of abstraction, developing a distinctive water-based process that relies on gravity and chance. Working in her New Jersey studio, she experiments with paint, ink drawing, spray painting, and collage, crafting works with intricate patterns that evoke nature in motion. She has exhibited her paintings in galleries and art fairs nationally and internationally. Recently, Campbell has been making works for public settings, designing murals and installations for hotelspaces, affordable housing developments, and installations in various ships on Norwegian Cruise Lines.