Rico

"I grew up in Japan in a house filled with my father's paintings and I started drawing when I was just a baby. My mother told me that I was drawing and painting everyday when I was a child."

"I received a BA in Visual Communication Design from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan in 2006, and I received a BA in Fine Arts from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. My artwork has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries in Japan, The Netherlands, and Canada, and I have taught workshops in Japan and Canada."

"I have always been working naturally with various techniques like drawing, painting, and paper cutting. I also work with light to reveal my unique paper collage creations when back-lit. About 10 years ago I casually started creating one-line drawings on long pieces of paper as I was walking from my house to the hospital to visit my grandmother."

"I like to represent ordinary things - a tree, a building, and people on the street - in an original, positive, and colourful way. What I feel is most beautiful is always in my daily life. Exploring new techniques and subject matter, and seeing the unexpected finished work is what gives me the most pleasure in making art."

"I currently live and work in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada."