Taiko Chandler

Bio

Taiko is a visual artist working in printmaking, installation, and sculpture, who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. She was born and raised in Nagano, Japan, and worked as nurse in Japan and the UK. Since taking her first class at the Art Students League of Denver, in 2011, art has become her career.

Taiko’s installation, made on-site with 150 Monotype prints on Tyvek, was part of the “Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence” exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, in 2023. Taiko’s work has been exhibited in Colorado (including solo exhibitions at Littleton Museum, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and Denver Botanic Gardens) and other states and numerous print fairs throughout the U.S. Her work is part of private and public collections in the U.S. and Japan, including the Cleveland Clinic Art Program, University of Colorado Denver Business school, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (NY).

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Artist Statement

Statement of the exhibition "PROVING GROUNDS" at Space Gallery:

Growing up in rural Japan, surrounded by mountains and rivers, Taiko’s work is inspired by nature, in all its dynamism and extraordinary beauty.

In this show, Taiko includes multiple sculptures (discarded traffic delineator bases), several prints from the continuous “On and On” series created with master printer Sue Oehme at Oehme Graphics in Steamboat Springs, and a number of her latest prints, made this year.

The sculptures were created from discarded traffic cones found during the Covid lockdown. Each of the thousands of attached dressmaker pins are hammered into place by hand, one-by-one. Collectively, the works mirror Taiko’s emotions about our uncertain future.

Taiko’s latest prints reflect her most recent trip to Japan, last spring. It had been about 20 years since she was last in Japan in the spring, a time of renewal and hope. It was emotionally intense for her to be with her family again, at the same time as seeing the dramatic cherry blossoms – a memorable experience she will always treasure.

February 29, 2024