Hanayo
Born 1970 in Tokyo. She studied in Paris while majoring in sculpture at Tamagawa University College of Arts. In 1989, soon after her return from Paris, Hanayo began training as a geisha apprentice in Mukojima. She retired from the geisha world in 1995 and moved to the UK in 1995. Currently based in Berlin and Tokyo, she has made works throughout her career as a photographer, geisha, musician, and model. Her photographs and collages capture her daily life in a dreamlike light that colors her surroundings. She has also exhibited installations, in which music and three-dimensional elements are added to her collages and photographs. She performs frequently and has participated in numerous group and international exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Her solo exhibitions include “utsushiyumekuni” (PARCO GALLERY, Tokyo, 2000); “hanayo” (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2002); “hanayo III” (Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film, Tokyo, 2017). Her publications include Hanayome (Shinchosha, 1996); MAGMA (AKAAKA Art Publishing, 2008); berlin (Getsuyosha, 2013); Tenko (Case Publishing, 2016); Hanayo’s Underworld: Half a Century (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2021). Her music albums include wooden veil (dekorder, 2009); Gift (DHR Geist, 2000).
