Tetris Attack!

I've done many embroideries in the past but not much "cross stitching."For the 8bit show in CA I thought cross stitching would be the perfect way to make the 8bit pixel image.  And I picked Tetris.

I loved Tetris when I was a kid, and I always love this first screen image of the Russian building. This is what I remember as a kid when people talk about Russia.  oh yes Russia I know people live in Tetris building! So I decided to have my Tetris image very Russian including the building and the color (Red, Yellow and blue) remembering what I thought of Russia as a child, Onion building, red pattern flowers, lots of Mushrooms from fairy tales, and the home of Tetris!This is a side story...after 20 years since I first saw the Russian building in Tetris, I finally made a trip to Russia 2010. I was amazed of those beautiful onion churches popping up everywhere in town and villages. And the land of Fairy Tales, I felt like I was in the fairy tale with wooden mushrooms, beautiful churches, lace window frames from the wooden houses and strange trees look like creatures. And here I'm really in the fairly tale!  In the House of  Baba Yaga! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

Tanabata Festival this Saturday!

Please Join us for this one day benefit event for Fukushima Children!Me and my friends Tsuru Project has been working for this event for quite some time, it will be really nice to see you there. WISH COME TSURU Tanabata Festival in New York

The TSURU Project brings a Japanese star festival to New York City to send wishes to people in Japan

August 6th, Saturday 3 pm - 7 pm at Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011

A very special one day event showcasing more than 3,000 colorful origami cranes in large ornaments, participatory workshops for origami cranes and tanzaku, thin paper strips for writing wishes to decorate bamboo branches, and live music performances by Japanese musicians.

The large ornaments will be on view and each string will be sold at suggested donation from $20 during a festival. Donation box will also be available. All the proceeds will go to Ashinaga’s “Rainbow House Fund,” Mazenda Fukushima Children’s Fund, and Tenri Cultural Institute’s “Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.” Only cash can be accepted.

**This is a free event and open to public.

I am 8-bit event!

hello.I'm part of this show next week, if you are in LA area, come on by~ Suppose to be really cool and fun event. I have an embroidery there, I will upload the photo soon.

SUPER iam8bit Opening Night Extravaganza August 11, 2011 7pm to 11pm

All-night ambiance by DJ R-Rated With special performances by Leeni and A_Rival

We'll be hosting the event at the recently renovated iam8bit headquarters in glorious Echo Park:- 2147 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026 -

It's going to be bigger and bolder than ever before, as we have over 4,500 sq. ft. of event space (that's nearly 5 times the size of the original show in 2005)!

Over 100 artists will reimagine their 80's gaming fantasies, delusions and secret desires via all sorts of media - painting, sculpture, plush, and even some more interactive experimentation. Highlights include:

*A special tribute to Galaga's 30th anniversary featuring the world's largest "arcade cabinet" * The transformation of the entire gallery into an 80's gaming wonderland by designer decal collective BLIK *An interactive, "retro-fied" Kinect hack from Double Fine super-artist Drew Skillman *And much, much more! http://iam8bit.com/the-art-show/

Lady Comix Art Exhibition at Webb Gallery

This comic show that I'm part of opens in July 30th @ Webb Gallery (Waxahachie, TX) If you are in the area come on by~, there are amazing line up of female comic artists!

This is a painting I did it's the cover of my comic that I created just for this show. Also there will be 5 paintings which related to this comic story will be exhibit at the gallery.

Oompa Loompa doompadee doo~

Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-doo,I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you. Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-dee, If you are wise you’ll listen to me. What do you get when you guzzle down sweets? Eating as much as an elephant eats. What are you at getting terribly fat? What do you think will come of that? I don't like the look of it Oompa Loompa do-ba-dee-da, Given good manners you will go far. You will live in happiness too, Like the oompa loompa do-ba-dee-doo. Do-ba-dee-doo

This is my world mixed with Willy Wonka's I did this painting for Gallery 1988 for their Crazy 4 Cult show opening tomorrow! I haven't used a wood panel for a long time, and now just started again to paint on wood. and bright colors!

Info: "Crazy 4 Cult" Gallery 1988 ( 7020 Melrose Ave. LA, CA) Opening July 8th, 2011

"the Hole in the Middle" Book + Toy release party x Dunny Series 2011 Release Party

Hello Hello!I'm putting up some photos of the night when we had our book "The Hole in The Middle" and it's main character Morgan's limited Toy release party.

For 2 hours Paul and I signed all 200 of the limited Book x Toy figures :-) This is Abby Ranger form Disney Hyperion Book, she is the Editor of this book!!! She is fantastic! And Dunny Series 2011 release party was happening at this SOHO Kidrobot shop in same night! Here is my Laika Dunny. hehe so small in this photo. It was my first time actually meeting my Laika this night! I was super excited. I love the transparent helmet. They did such a great job making this! thank you! My dear dear Friends were there to support! thank you guys for coming. Thank you Paul, Thank you Abby, Thank you KRNY stuff, and thank you everybody for coming to celebrate this book, this means a lot to me!

You can see more photo at http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/wrap-up-ds2011-trading-parties/

Bad Luck Club ~ 13 Female Artists from Brooklyn

I'm curating 13 all female Brooklyn artists show in CA!Come come if you are in the neighborhood. It's an amazing lineup of the artists, don't you think? Thank you girls for being part of this show!

The title " Bad Luck Club" was named by my dear friend Edward Hemingway.  He is just so good at coming up with good names!  I asked him... well there is 13 of us, all girls and we want some fun name... and a second later he came up with this title!  Thank you Eddie~

And this beautiful post card design is by Fumiha Tanaka.  Thank you Fumiha!

The Hole in the Middle Dunny + signing on 23rd!

Hello!I have a great news!!! Toy of the Hole in the Middle, the children book which I worked with Paul Budnitz is coming out as a special edition dunny from KidRobot!  It's the main character Morgan and a mushroom~

I'm really excited about this.

And both Paul and me will be at the signing at KidRobot Store in SOHO, NY on 23rd.  this is the same day which my Laika Dunny is releasing as part of the Dunny series 2011!!!

See you at the store~, hope you can make it!

 

Dunny Series 2011 collaboration with KidRobot!

Yeey my new Dunny toy is coming out from KidRobot on 23rd and now the design is revealed on their website!http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/ds2011-daily-dunny-countdown-aya-kakeda/

I was watching a full moon last night and feeling nostalgic. And it's the perfect timing to reveal this Laika dunny since I design this after Laika the Space Dog who first went to the space in 1957. (and never came back.. :-( ) I salute you Laika. you are always in my mind with a beautiful full moon~!

Dear Japan

Flower, Fire, sparkles in the dark night sky.
My favorite thing about Japanese summer. Festivals, shaved strawberry ice, dark chochin lamp, smell of festival food... ahh I can even hear people saying "Tamaya~!!!" to the night sky.
I'm wishing people in North East Japan will be able to have a summer fireworks and festivals one day soon after recovery, I was hoping that and while I was painting this.
This art work will be sold at "Dear Japan" Benefit on June 4th at ACNY gallery in New York.
I hope everybody can come out!

Oh! yes we did make a blog, here you can see amazing artists' works which will be in the benefit as well. check it out---->http://dearjapanny.wordpress.com/

Reviews came in for "The Hole In The Middle" book!

Here are some reviews just came in  for the book "The Hole in the Middle" book written by Paul Budnitz and illustrated by me. I'm very excited I wanted to share with you! The book will be out in June. Kirkus Review THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE Author: Budnitz, Paul Illustrator: Kakeda, Aya This charming story about friendship, a debut effort for both author and illustrator, succeeds with a chatty tone and appealing cartoon-style illustrations. Morgan is a boy with a hole in his midsection; you can see right through it, and it causes an empty feeling no matter what he’s doing or how much he eats. His best friend, Yumi, tries to help by making strawberry cake, taking his mind off it with play and suggesting he just forget about it, but nothing works until, in a reversal of roles, Yumi gets sick and needs his help. Alert readers will notice even before Morgan does that the hole in his tummy gets smaller and smaller the more he focuses on Yumi rather than himself. Morgan and Yumi’s caring friendship is warmly portrayed, and the fact that they help each other solve problems (there are no adults here) encourages young readers’ budding initiative and self-sufficiency. The colorful, cheerful spreads depict all sorts of amusements and feature whimsical details that add to the brief text; it’s fun to try to spot the robot toy and the doll with a flower-shaped face that accompany Morgan and Yumi, respectively, through their adventures.  Focusing on the needs of others is a time-honored solution for those dissatisfied with their own lot in life; here is a motivating parable for contemporary kids. (Picture book. 3-6) — Kirkus Review. http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/paul-budnitz/hole-middle/

Publishers Weekly The Hole in the Middle Paul Budnitz, illus. by Aya Kakeda. Disney-Hyperion Kidrobot founder Budnitz and graphic artist Kakeda debut with a surreal tale about "a boy named Morgan, who was born with a hole in his middle. The hole was so big, you could see straight through him, from front to back." Morgan suffers from "a strange, empty feeling," and the circular, cookie cutter–shaped gap is large enough that his friend Yumi bats a badminton birdie through it. Budnitz quietly implies the hole is related to an innate self-centeredness (early on, Morgan eats an entire cake Yumi bakes for him, and he sings "all the solos" when they rock out together). In flattened cartoons dancing with whimsical dots, stripes, toadstools, and enormous flowers, Kakeda pictures a glum Morgan whose frown droops even more when he learns Yumi is ill. His mood lifts, though, when he bakes Yumi a get-well cake and visits her. As he devotes himself to cheering a friend, the hole shrinks until "it looked exactly like a belly button." The combination of Kakeda's optimistic pictures and Morgan's odd attribute make this resemble a Charles Burns comic for a junior crowd. Ages 3–6. (June) http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4231-3761-0

Post It Barcelona!

Hi!  Posted Barcelona is happening on the May 5th at Atticus Gallery (Calle Lledo, 10, Barcelona, Spain)It's a spin off of the Giant Robot Post it show from last year. This time since it's spring/summer I did some super colorful pieces.

If you are in the Barcelona area, stop by. the show is on till May 31st, and I heard this Gallery/store is a fantastic place to go!

It's getting slowly into a summer mode in NY. The green leaves are finally covering up the trees, hope everything is well with you~

Dear Japan Benefit Logo

Me and my friends Fumiha and Miwa are putting together a Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Crisis Relief Benefit Art Exhibition: "Dear Japan" ~168 Artists 168 Messages~ in June 4th. We asked 5 dear friends of us to create each letters to make "JAPAN" for our logo and here it is! wow, beautiful and fun! Yappy~ Thank you Eun-ha, Yunmee, Sara, Jon and Nora! Here are the info of the artists: J --- Eun-Ha Paek A --- Yunmee Kyong P --- Sara Varon A --- Jon Burgerman N --- Nora Krug

KidRobot x Urban Outfitters Sketch Event photos!

I was at Urban Outfitters in Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn last night to do a Sketch Event for KidRobot.Here are some photos! The Sketch Event started with this super cute little girl :-) She posed for me so I can draw her.My dearest girl friends, thank you so much for hanging out with me! This family made it to both Manhattan and Brooklyn Sketch Event! Thank you so much for driving out to Brooklyn! They own a vinyl Toy store in NJ, check out their website! http://www.suburbanvinyl.com/  they have a Jeremiah Ketner's exhibition up now!This event was truly FUN! Thank you so much for having me, The stuff at the Urban Outfitters in Atlantic Ave were so nice. I will go back to shop there, see you~

Children book "The Hole in the Middle"

Oh Weeeee~! I just got an advanced copy of my children book "The Hole in the Middle" which I collaborated with the talented Paul Budnutz who is not only a great writer he is also a kidrobot founder/designer/filmmaker!!! (paul's website)

We worked really hard and Disney Hyperion Book did such an amazing job designing and printing the book. I loved the satin smooth cover!

The book will come out on June 7.  Advanced orders are available on Amazon.

I'm really excited. If you have small children, or friends who does, please get a copy and support us! (this is actually great for adult,too)   ;-)

"Lace and Pattern" for Art Connects New York Benefit Show

These are for a benefit show at Art Connects New York, a non-profit art organization in SOHO, NY. The show is going to be about 30 artists creating new works altering the pages of books.

It's been 2 weeks since the earthquake in Japan. I was working on these images a week after it happen and I was in a zombie state of mind. I thought about why am I even creating art when I really want to do is help people in Japan...?  I felt so little and powerless... And I started to think about this project. All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful. Beautiful colors, pattern and a tiny bit of humor.  After all I didn't want to make something depressing or sad.  And when I start painting these patterns on the book pages and working with a repetition movement, I started to feel better, this is the healing power of Art??? Maybe it is.

I wish my art can heal somebody oneday, even a small smile or forget about hard time for a one second.  That would be my goal!

The benefit is on April 6th, more info ---> http://www.artconnectsnewyork.org/