Illustrator Ayumi Takahashi grew up in China to an artistic family: her father was an industrial designer and painter while her step mom was a theme park designer. She didn’t stay in China for too long, however—when she was 12, she moved to Japan, studied in Thailand during high school, and then came to the United States for college. She’s since remained in America, bouncing from the West Coast to the Eastern seaboard.
Travel is at the heart of Ayumi’s work. “I try to take at least one month off a year to go to places and get inspired,” she tells North. “At the same time, I will learn the history, culture and art of those places. I believe that before you make art, you first need to go see the world. Being away from my studio gives me time and space to rethink and redevelop the kind of art I want to make.”
This global existence is reflected in her portraits. They focus on simple shapes with “concentrated sophistication,” combining intricate patterns with large fields of colors that are a collision of cultural influences.
