Chiho Aoshima

Chiho Aoshima (Tokyo, 1974) is a Japanese artist linked to pop culture and the superflat movement, a postmodern current founded by Takashi Murakami. She studied economics at Hosei University in Tokyo, but found her medium in Adobe Illustrator, which she taught herself. After taking part in Murakami's exhibition Tokyo Girls Bravo, she worked in his studio, where she was one of the first three interns and oversaw the digital files for his works. She is a member of the Kaikai Kiki collective.

Her work is recognised for its Bézier curves, which let her images scale without loss of clarity. She prints large formats on paper, and also on leather and plastic for different textures. Her City Glow series, 32.5 metres long, was shown in a disused London Underground platform and in a New York subway station. Her dreamlike scenes mix ghosts, demons and nature, with shōjo-style young women who often turn unsettling. She draws on ukiyo-e and Hokusai, and yōkai such as the rokurokubi appear in her pictures.

Her legacy lies in combining the cute and the disturbing in a digital language that reaches both galleries and public spaces.