February 6, 2019
"JAPANESE SISTERS"
by Aiko
Born in Tokyo but now living in Brooklyn, Aiko Nakagawa, aka Lady Aiko, was inspired by Japan's woodblock prints of the 18th century and uses hand-cut stencils to bring them to an ever-larger global audience. In 2018 Aiko visited the Pacific Northwest to create this work at Willamette St and W 7th Ave for Eugene's 20x21 project—sponsoring at least 20 pieces of world class street art in time for the 2021 IAAF track and field world championships to be hosted by Eugene. Aiko chose to paint a young Maiko—apprentice geisha trained to be a dancer—to reflect the expected energy and festivity of the upcoming event and sitting down with local NPR affiliate KLCC, Aiko went on to describe some of the other details of the playing card composition—from using the top and bottom to represent day and night to the inclusion of the butterfly to represent transformation. @/ladyaiko_nyc/ @20x21eug/
