Keiko Sato

Japanese born Keiko Sato's first solo exhibition in London took the form of an installation that resembles a chaotic landscape, a terrain that the visitor is forced to navigate. Sato uses cosmetic materials that normally function to enhance and decorate the human body, or to conceal the effects of the ageing process. The installation covers the entire gallery floor, whilst sections of broken mirror are placed on walls, expanding the visual space of the gallery. The viewer is therefore persuaded to reflect, both literally and metaphorically, upon the situation in which they find themselves.

Sato's practice addresses highly charged human preoccupations, such as the vanity of the human ego, or the politics of gender specification. Her work is informed partly by her move from Japan to Europe. Immersed in another culture, this upheaval was an experience which initiated the artist's subsequent analysis of the state of Western society.

Born in Iwaki City, Japan, Keiko Sato currently lives in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. She studied at Goldsmiths' College, London and the Jan Van Eyck Acadmie, Maastrict.

The exhibition was supported by the Mondriaan Foundation.

Keiko Sato