Gina Ariko
Artist Statement
I'm Gina Ariko, and I'm a second-generation Japanese-American painter. I'm named Ariko after my obaachan (grandma), and owe my life-long love of painting to my maternal grandparents, who were both working artists and my biggest inspiration. My dad is from the U.S. but my mom is an immigrant, and I spent most of my childhood summers visiting relatives in Kokura, Japan. Growing up biracial and second-generation American, I often felt caught in the in-between, sometimes feeling “too American to be Japanese” and other times “too Japanese to be American.” This push-and-pull shows up in my work: nostalgia, a search for belonging, and the comfort of home are recurring themes in my paintings. My paintings also reflect my love for traditional Japanese crafts, and the mindfulness they evoke. I mostly paint oil on canvas, and occasionally watercolor on paper.
These days I've been focused more on creating original paintings, but I do accept commissions, and some of my personal favorite projects have been commissions. I love capturing the quiet intimacy of everyday moments and the soft expressions in an old family photo. For me, the personal and professional are intertwined, and the best part of the job is hearing from others who resonate with my work. Painting makes me feel closer to my cultural heritage and the family I didn't get to spend enough time with, but it also makes me feel more connected to artists everywhere. Whenever I sit in front of my easel to paint, even though it's a solo practice, I still feel a sense of kinship thinking of all the other artists out there creating their art and sharing their story, too.
How did you get started in your artistic journey?
I feel really lucky to have grown up in a family of artists who encouraged me to explore my creativity from a young age. I've always loved painting and drawing, and as a kid "artist" was my only answer to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" (other than the brief time I wanted to be a professional soccer player after watching Bend it Like Beckham).
That said, I didn't begin working as an artist until 2020, when I was 28 years old. Throughout my 20s I wanted to do more with my art, but kept waiting for the "right time to start" while other stuff got in the way. A combination of events happened in the first few months of 2020 that pushed me to re-examine the path I was on: Japan closed their borders which cut me off from the maternal side of my family, I lost my job, I got engaged, I was in lockdown at home with all of my art supplies sitting in front of me. It felt like all at once, from both a personal and professional perspective, I had to confront who I was and what I was doing. By December of 2020 I was married to my partner, making artwork inspired by my Japanese heritage and operating a licenced business with a web shop for my art.
Describe how your art reflects your artistic journey.
For me, the personal and professional are deeply interconnected. My art is a reflection of my bicultural identity and influenced by my desire to create a calming sense of home and belonging.
How did you develop your creative journey?
I worked and volunteered in a ton of different spaces throughout my 20s, trying to figure out where I "fit in" and how to build community without much success. Once I started sharing my own story and putting myself out there, the people who resonated with my work started to find me, and it made the path forward a lot easier to navigate.
What is one piece of creative advice you would like to share?
Be curious, and ask questions! I've benefited so much from just paying attention to the things that make me go, "I wonder how this works" or "I wonder how they did that" and following that train of thought by looking into it further and/or reaching out and asking someone.
