Born in 2002, Aiko is an Australian painter of Asian diaspora, currently maintaining her practice on Wurundjeri Land of the Kulin Nations in Naarm/Melbourne. Currently enrolled in the Honours Fine Art course at RMIT School of Art, she excels in contemporary figurative oil painting that honours non-binary representation whilst reclaiming her sexual agency through creative catharsis.
The Death of Venus is an activist research project that challenges western idolised patriarchal representations of women in the history of art through what I am calling a ‘Queer Feminine‘. Working closely with my non-binary friend D’Jana (pronounced ‘Di-ya–na’) who has tattoos and piercings I have created a series of detailed and fastidious oil paintings that elevate queer ways of being in the world, and body adornments, by hijacking the materiality of high art. However, unlike historical oil-painted nudes, the research also reveals the reciprocity and collaboration between D’Jana and me using video and audio recordings of the discussions that we had as we collaborated on their poses and the nature of the project. In doing so the research also reveals and interrogates my own sexual and gender trauma reclaiming my agency. By making works together, the research queers the traditional relationship between artist and sitter so that it acknowledges and highlights the collective trauma of the queer community and the importance of community to queer individuals.
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