Artists

Getting acquainted with Jeff Shetima, a Native American artist of the Zuni Pueblo tribe (*), whose art she has admired for quite some time, greatly influenced her life as an artist thereafter. (Note: Zuni fetish carvers are known for their stone carvings in the forms of animals, appreciated as charms and as art form.)

As she continues to publish her work through social media, Akie’s work has been covered by a broad range of magazines and other publications worldwide. Currently Akie has a social media following of 200,000.

Profile

Born in Yamagata, Japan
Works and lives in Saitama, Japan
After working as a part-time art teacher at a junior high school and as a designer at a design office, in 2010, inspired by a move to an area with beautiful riverbanks nearby, Akie began her work as a stone artist.
*Portrait photo by Hitoshi Yasuda
【Selected Solo Exhibitions】
2023 Stone Alive (SEIZAN Gallery, New York)
2022 Commemorating the Publication of the Art Book「Akie」(SEIZAN GALLERY TOKYO 凸, Tokyo)
2019 Akie (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
2013 Solo Exhibition (DORADO GALLERY, Tokyo)
2012 Solo Exhibition (DORADO GALLERY, Tokyo)
Solo Exhibition (Zuni Visitor Center, US)
【Selected Group Exhibitions】
2020 Online Exhibition “除災招福 Jo Sai Sho Fuku (Ward off Calamities, Invite Good Luck) :Gods and Yokai in Time of Pandemic” (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo; SEIZAN Gallery, New York)
2016 “Something Precious: Strawberry” (SEIZAN Gallery, Tokyo)
2013 “ART ESSENCE EXHIBITION” (DORADO GALLERY, Tokyo)
2011 “Tenohira size no art-ten” (DORADO GALLERY, Tokyo)
【Publications】
2022 Published “Sekaini tatta hitotsuno ikimono Stone Art: Bokutachiwa Ishikara Umareta”
(The only creature in the world Stone art: When stones come alive) published by Shogakukan Inc.
2021 Forbes (US)
2020 The Week (US)
2019 French daily newspaper for children “Le Petit Quotidien” (France)
2018 Website “Mother Nature Network” (US)
“The Metro newspaper” (Finland, Russia)
*The Metro newspapers is published by Swedish global media company, Metro International in twenty countries
“Dogs Monthly” Magazine (UK)
2017 Paradijsvogels Magazine “ODE AAN DE VERWONDERING” (Netherlands)
 【Awards】
2013 Kohji Mori Special Prize, the 2nd Berlin Art Festival at the Charlottenburg Palace, Germany
2011 Grand-Prix “Your Favourite,” Toronto Art Festival 2011, Canada