Bio
Taiko is a Denver-based artist originally from Nagano, Japan. She first trained and worked as a nurse in Japan and the UK before moving to the United States. In 2011, she took her first printmaking class at the Art Students League of Denver, which marked the beginning of her artistic path.
She works through printmaking, sculpture, and installation, engaging both two- and three-dimensional forms. Most of her work is grounded in printmaking, and she often incorporates unconventional materials in all mediums.
Taiko has exhibited widely in Colorado, including a solo show at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and exhibitions at the Denver Botanic Gardens and Littleton Museum. Nationally, her work has appeared in group exhibitions and print fairs across the U.S. In 2023, her installation of 150 monotype prints on Tyvek was included in Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
She has held residencies at RedLine Contemporary Art Center (2020–2022) and Anderson Ranch Arts Center (2024). Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic (reviewed by Kealey Boyd), Printmaking Today (authorized Journal of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers) and in "A Tale of Two Balconies (Smithsonian Institution & Giles Ltd., 2024)".
Artist Statement
Watching my father work as a tatami craftsman, devoted to meticulous handwork, taught me the value of perseverance, engagement, and attention to detail. Later, working as a nurse gave me a deep appreciation for the complexity and fragility of life. These experiences remain with me, naturally informing the way I approach my art. Everyday experiences continue to inspire my practice, especially living away from my home country of Japan, and a close engagement with the natural world.
Shaped by my upbringing, I embrace humble or overlooked materials such as bamboo, pins, fabric, paper, Tyvek, and discarded objects like traffic cone bases. I am fascinated by the transformative power of repetition and accumulation of simple actions such as layering, blending, connecting, kneading, and wrapping. Working directly with my hands opens intimate dialogue with the material.
I create prints, sculptures, and installations through a hands-on, experimental process guided by both intention and intuition. I think of my work as moving through rhythm and tension, where balance, nuance, and dissonance coexist. Starting from a single line, gesture, or fragment of an idea, each work evolves into a form that carries traces of unseen elements: memory, emotion, place and time. Through the act of making, the invisible becomes visible.
In my recent print-based installation Practice Makes Perfect (2025), I incorporated dozens of sheets of my mother’s practice calligraphy, which carry deep personal memories. The piece reflects my experience of living between cultural dualities, and the bond between mother and daughter, inspired by a recent trip to Japan.