HIROKO OTAKE


ARTIST BIO & STATEMENT

Hiroko Otake is a Japanese artist, specialized in traditional Japanese painting and the Nihonga technique. She earned her MFA at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Currently based in Tokyo, she continues to embrace the meticulous and time-honored nature of this traditional method, making it an essential element of her work’s beauty and evolution. Her dynamic creations not only reflect contemporary transformation and artistic growth but also establish her as a pioneer in redefining Nihonga.

Otake uses butterflies as powerful symbols of beauty, iridescence, and spiritual renewal, reflecting the resilience and evolution of the human soul and psyche. Just as nature endures and transforms amid external chaos, our relationships—with nature, ourselves, and others—represent a continuous cycle of renewal. Through her artistic practice, Otake strengthens her connection to the world around her.

Working on an international scale, Otake has exhibited her work in major cities such as New York, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Taipei, and across Japan. She remains dedicated to developing a unique artistic style that pushes creative boundaries, collaborating with institutions such as hotels, art galleries, and department stores. Her partnerships include prestigious brands like Salvatore Ferragamo, Godiva, Bergdorf Goodman, Silklab, Adore Tokyo, MoMA Design Store x Sony, Park Hotel, and Mikimoto Tokyo.

Otake’s work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including Flow and Movement at Spiral, Tokyo; Reflection at Gallery 10, Tokyo; The Passing in Osaka, Japan; Victory Bouquet at the Sato Museum, Tokyo; Psyche Butterfly—Symbol of Life at Tenri Gallery, NYC; and Consider the Butterflies at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, NYC. In 2014, she was awarded the Emerald Grant Award from the Tokyo National University of the Arts.

"My motifs of butterflies and flowers symbolize the fleeting nature of the present moment. A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis, transforming from a larva to a pupa, and finally emerging as a butterfly — each stage entirely different from the last. Similarly, I find a sense of transience, resilience, and beauty in nature’s processes, where buds blossom into flowers, eventually wither, and create seeds for the future.

I believe embracing the fluid and transient as they are, discovering their essence in nature, and striving to live in harmony with nature are integral aspects of the Japanese identity. My work aspires to reinterpret this aesthetic sensibility by transcending traditional categories like Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) and embracing the coexistence of diverse elements: cultures, parts and wholes, history and modernity. Through this, I aim to create art that reflects the beauty of coexistence within transformation." - Hiroko Otake

1 6

Psyche Making Short Film

Healing Campaign 2020