Briar Rose Pelletier
Briar Pelletier is an art historian and fiber artist from Maine, United States. She started embroidery during the COVID-19 pandemic as an insular pursuit to better ground herself and understand her roots. Her work combines Japanese koginzashi - a technique she learned while conducting research in Aomori, Japan - with American mid-century color palettes and motifs - inspired by the work of her grandfather, Fern A. Pelletier, who was Design Director for Bates Fabrics in her hometown of Lewiston, Maine. Her tapestries are the result of weaving together her artistic experience that led her to Japan while exploring her family’s artistic legacy at home, which she’s been separated from.
Briar is a PhD candidate at Nagoya University and currently serves as project coordinator for the Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society exchange program.

Jeff Badger
Jeff Badger is an artist and educator based in Maine, USA. He has exhibited his artwork nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions in Portland and Boston, and has curated international exchange exhibitions in Japan, Greece, and Spain. He teaches studio art at Southern Maine Community College where he serves at the Co-Chair of the Fine Arts Department and the Coordinator of the Global Studies Center. Jeff currently serves as the President of Friends of Aomori, the non-profit organization that supports the sister state relationship between Maine, USA and Aomori, Japan. This animation was created for a song from the album Window Weather, a collaborative album of original music created with Blair Wells in 2020.

Website: https://www.jeffbadger.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeff.badger.art/

Karen Blanch
Hi! Thanks for looking at my work! I'm Karen, a Spanish-American illustrator and multimedia artist living in Tokyo, Japan. I grew up in Spain and graduated from the University of Denver (USA), with a degree in emergent digital practices in 2016, but I prefer traditional media, particularly watercolor, pen, and collage, for my personal work.
Growing up in a multicultural family between countries, I have always been fascinated with history, fantasy, and storytelling across cultures. I aim for my work to be visually compelling and emotionally communicative. My subject matter focuses on expressing shared human emotional experiences, particularly from a female perspective, as well as other modern issues such as environmental preservation. These pieces you see now are little windows into the mind. Careful, if you look too closely, they might be looking back at you!

Annette Choy
Based in Tokyo, Annette Choy is a British-Venezuelan Designer who has been fully exploring her illustration and art during this pandemic era, often using her dog as her inspiration and muse.
She has studied architecture in both London and Tokyo; exploring ideas of ecology and multi-species Co-habitation; often probing whimsical ideas of escapism, fantasy, idealism and colour, concepts that are fed into all forms of her design, from illustrations to architecture.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeff.badger.art/

Nadia Kozulina
Nadia Kozulina was born in Moscow in 1981 and moved to Japan in 2013. Studied graphic design at Higher Academic School of Graphic Design in Moscow and media arts at IAMAS in Japan. Worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, animator and art teacher. Previously published two picture books in Japan and led a lecture course on Soviet underground art history (in Japanese).

Website: https://nadiamurakami.tilda.ws/

Hannah Toya
Hannah Toya is a Japan-based printmaker who lives and works in Saitama, with her husband and two children. Ibis, the work displayed in this show, was made in her home atelier. As an artist, Hannah is motivated by an intrinsic desire to make. This desire permeates through all aspects of her life, despite the obstacles presented by the pandemic and the demands of raising children, this desire compels her to fill spare moments with creative endeavors. Hannah was originally drawn to printmaking due to the physical nature of carving wood, the complex and often frustrating nature of printmaking methods, and the tight-knit printing community all over the world. Hannah was formally educated in printmaking methods at the University of Maine, where she received a degree in Fine Art.