NATSUKI TAKAUJI
STATEMENT
I work with various methods and materials. My core interest is to explore what lies between different qualities. Therefore my work often bridges them, by recognizing tension, mutuality, rejection, or connection.
The search stretches to my creative processes. In some works, I focus on personal narratives and visions, and in my other works, research takes a significant role. And through my public artwork, I engage with the public by giving interactive experiences and often throwing questions about apperception. I try to practice across various intents, not only subjects, materials, and schemes. My ultimate artistic interest is to achieve a quality beyond a set style.
The current state of the world with the pandemic has deepened the desire to examine the pre-existing values. So I started to explore the idea of our beliefs, which I always had concerned growing up; why we believe what we believe, how psychology and designs are related, and how our story-like beliefs are affecting everything we do.
BIOGRAPHY
Natsuki Takauji was born in Tokyo, Japan, and currently lives and works in NYC. She is an interdisciplinary visual artist, an instructor at The Art Students League of New York where she also leads the public sculpture program, Works In Public, a co-founder of The Artist Gardener NYC, and a director of Metal Sculptures at Sculptors Alliance, Inc. for which she has curated exhibitions.
Her exhibition venues include Lesley Heller Gallery, NY, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, NE, the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ, Palazzo Mora in the 16th Venice Biennale, Italy, NADA Miami, FL. Her public sculptures were exhibited across New York; Riverside Park, Van Cortlandt Park, and more. Her works are held as a permanent collection of Yuko Nii Foundation and Port Authority NY&NJ. She was awarded grants from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and more.
She studied visual and literal art at The Art Students League of New York, School of Visual Arts, and Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.