Itsuki Kaito

Itsuki Kaito creates surreal and magnetic paintings which tackle the complex processes of human identity and self-expression. Eager to reveal the fluidity of personality, Kaito’s paintings bear the traces of various social, political and cultural marks which shape each person’s sense of self. The fragmented figures in her paintings wrestle between conforming and rejecting societal standards, playing with normative gender dynamics and kink aesthetics. In a hybrid visual language, limbs are sometimes drafted in meticulous, anatomical sketches, whilst in the same painting, other corporal elements are delivered in enlarged, cartoonish styles. This push and pull between aesthetic styles speaks to the complexity of embodiment today and having to constrict one’s body to universal standards. Kaito cites the films of Jan Êvankmajer as having a deep impact upon her work, particularly his 1996 film Conspirators of Pleasure, which hosts a series of bizarre characters fulfilling their unorthodox erotic fantasies. Kaito’s paintings echo the dark humour of Êvankmajer’s films, encouraging viewers to let go of societal shackles and express their desires.