FOCUS: Chinatsu Ban December 5, 2006

Chinatsu Ban's most common motif is the elephant, which symbolizes a number of things to the artist, including safety and salvation. A young artist among those who explore otaku, Ban has been making art since 1997, and has continued to develop her unique aesthetic style, creating both paintings and sculpture of irresistibly cute figures, including generically rendered elephants with no mouths, in bright colors and often wearing girls' undergarments. While there is a definite personal and psychological edge to Ban's work, her paintings and sculpture undeniably operate within the realm of kawaii, the Japanese word for cute, which is also seen in such popular figures as Hello Kitty. This is Ban's first solo museum exhibiiton.