BIOGRAPHY
Akiyo Ochiai is an artist who creates in many ways. Her work is not just on canvas; it appears in restaurant murals, shrine designs, and CD covers. She loves bringing art into everyday life.
Her art comes from her life in music, movement, and tradition. She practiced ballet for seven years and calligraphy for eight years as a child. From calligraphy, she learned the beauty of “empty space” and a Japanese sense of aesthetics, which still live in her work today. Later, she played the violin in orchestras for 15 years. These experiences help her turn the rhythm of music and the balance of space into visual art.
She also teaches at her own academy school, “MuFa (Music and Fine Arts).” With 12 years of experience as an art curator and manager in Nagoya, she understands art from many angles. This background gives her work a unique and deep perspective.
CV
Education:
2008: MFA in Japanese Painting, Nagoya University of Arts.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2025: GALLERY MARQUISE, Aichi Japan.
2023: Gallery Imagin, Gifu Japan.(also 2019, 2014)
2020: 5/R Hall & Gallery, Nagoya Japan.(also 2016, 2011)
2013: Mugaen, Hekinan Japan.
Selected Group Exhibitions & Art Fairs:
2025: West Bund Art & Design (Exhibited by A Lighthouse called Kanata), Shanghai.
2024: “Stepping into a world IV,” Gallery Max New York, NYC.
2022: “Paris étoiles #1,” Espace Sorbonne 4, Paris.
2021: “2nd Festival d’Art Sacré de Senlis,” Compiègne, France.
2005, 2006: Nitten (The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition), Tokyo.
Awards & Residencies:
2024: Excellence Award, NY Open Call Autumn/Winter (Art Incubation).
2015, 2023: Artist in Residence, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris.
2009: Excellence Award, 62nd Seto City Art Exhibition, Seto Japan.
Special Projects:
2014: Music and Art Collaboration Concert: Performance of “pale forest, deep pocket,” inspired by the “Leaf Sound” series.
STATEMENT
I believe art galleries and museums are special places where people connect across borders and time.
My inspiration comes from the Japanese tradition of Waka poetry. In Waka, people shared deep feelings through small, delicate words. Today, our communication is very simple, and we are losing our power to imagine. My art is a way to bring back that deep connection.
I create both paintings and 3D objects to find new ways to reach people’s hearts. To me, art is a “mirror.” It helps us look inside ourselves. I believe that a true “place to belong” is not something we find outside, but something we build inside our own hearts through art.